Happy Driver: Investigating the Effect of Mood on Preferred Style of Driving in Self-Driving Cars

Rachel Phinnemore, Gabriele Cimolino, Pritam Sarkar, Ali Etemad, T. C. Nicholas Graham

Abstract: Self-driving cars are around the corner, yet little is known about how users of self-driving cars will react to the car’s driving style, and whether the driver’s mood affects their driving style preference. This paper explores the impact of users’ mood on driving style preference in self-driving cars. An experiment was conducted online (N=182) to investigate participants’ preference for three driving styles (conservative, moderate, aggressive) under three induced moods (calm, neutral, excited). Measures of arousal, valence, and driving satisfaction were recorded. Overall, participants scored the aggressive driving style lowest, irrespective of driver mood. Participants’ mood impacted preference, where a mismatch between driving style and mood induced prior to the driving style predicted lower driver satisfaction scores. We conclude with the design recommendation that driving styles in self-driving cars should not be overly aggressive, and drivers’ mood should be taken into consideration when designing driving styles.