Using Data Analytics to Further Understand the Role that Boredom, Loneliness, Social Anxiety, Social Gratification, and Social Relationships (BRAG) Play in a Driver’s Decision to Text

Texting while driving is a growing problem that current efforts have failed to curtail. This behavior has serious, and sometimes fatal, consequences, and the factors that cause a driver to text are not well understood. This study investigates the influence that boredom, social relationships, social anxiety, and social gratification (BRAG) have upon the texting driver. A survey instrument was used to collect data from 297 respondents at a mid-sized regional university in the Pacific North west of the United States. The data was evaluated with PLS-SEM, which indicated that social gratification plays a very significant role in a driver’s decision to text. Additionally, data visualization techniques were used to gain additional knowledge from the data. The analysis with these techniques indicated that social anxiety may also play a role in a driver’s decision to text.