Mobile:Engaged compendium Mobile:Engaged compendium | Seite 104

For some groups, having a pledge with a purpose
- something to do moving forward - will be more
effective. These ‘coping strategies’ 1 are thought to be
particularly effective for young males who appreciate
positive road safety messages 2 and don’t want to be
told that they should simply refrain from everything.
A social link to pledging
We know that pledges work better when they are
made socially - when we promise to others rather than
just to ourselves. If others know what we are trying to
do they can support us, and even be enlisted to help
monitor our success or failure. As well as pledging to
adopt or avoid a particular behaviour, a pledge should
therefore contain an external reference point - a specific
individual or group to whom the commitment is made.
For example, a driver may pledge to their best friend,
parent, girlfriend or husband. Pledging to a particular
individual further personalises the pledge and creates
a personal link between the action in question and
an individual that matters. This gives meaning to their
behaviour and encourages them to self-reflect 3 upon
who they would want to keep safe, and why they would
want to stay safe.
you are considering introducing a pledge as part of an
approach, think about ways it can easily be shared via
social media. Where possible some form of follow-up
should be built-in to the process so that individuals
can be reminded of the pledges they have made and,
if they are struggling with changing their behaviour,
offered extra motivation and suggestions to help them
get back on track.
Some individuals will struggle to believe that their
behaviour is problematic, so a pledge may not be
useful on its own. For these people we might need
to tackle issues of self optimism 5 , over-exaggeration
of driving skill 5 and failure to recognise risks 6 first.
Pledges may be shared widely, to increase the sense
of commitment for the pledging individual, and also to
communicate a message about social norms. Social
media is a simple way to share our intentions with
followers, increases the audience and therefore the
number of behavioural ‘observers’ and ‘monitors’ 4 . If
1
Lewis, I., Watson, B. and White, K.M., 2008. An examination of message-relevant affect in road safety messages: Should road safety advertisements aim to
make us feel good or bad?. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 11(6), pp.403-417.
2
Wundersitz, L.N., Hutchinson, T.P. and Woolley, J.E., 2010. Best practice in road safety mass media campaigns: A literature review. Social psychology, 5,
pp.119-186.
3
TIRF. (2015). Road safety campaigns: What the research tells us. Available from: http://tirf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2015_RoadSafetyCampaigns_
Report_2.pdf
4
Fylan, F. (2017). Using Behaviour Change Techniques: Guidance for the road safety community. RAC Foundation. Available from: https://www.racfoundation.
org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Using_behaviour_change_techniques_Guidance_for_the_road_safety_community.pdf
5
Harré, N., Foster, S. and O’neill, M., 2005. Self ‐enhancement, crash ‐risk optimism and the impact of safety advertisements on young drivers. British journal of
psychology, 96(2), pp.215-230.
6
Machin, M.A. and Sankey, K.S., 2008. Relationships between young drivers’ personality characteristics, risk perceptions, and driving behaviour. Accident
analysis & prevention, 40(2), pp.541-547.
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