beliefs about safe traffic behaviors among male high school students in hamadan, iran: a qualitative study based on the theory of planned behavior

beliefs about safe traffic behaviors among male high school students in hamadan, iran: a qualitative study based on the theory of planned behavior

fatal road traffic injuries are the most common type of injuries among high school students. the  present study was conducted to understand the views of male high school students in hamadan, iran regarding safe traffic behaviors based on the theory of planned behavior.  this study is an exploratory qualitative study with content analysis. the study population was all male high school students in hamadan in the academic year of 2020. purposive sampling was performed and continued until data saturation was reached.

high school students were interviewed. the semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymised and coded using maxqda software.  the study results showed that from the students' points of view, 3 categories along with 6 sub-categories including attitudes towards behavior (behavioral beliefs and evaluation of behavioral outcomes), subjective norms (normative beliefs and motivation to comply), perceived behavioral control (control beliefs and perceived power) are effective on performing safe traffic behaviors and reducing the potential risk of road traffic injuries.  it can be concluded that safe traffic behaviors are multi-dimensional and affected by different factors. hence, providing the necessary conditions and facilities and reinforcing psychological factors have important roles in performing safe traffic behaviors.