Seat belts: Relations between beliefs, attitude, and use.

A sample of 368 car owners answered a mailed questionnaire constructed on the basis of a model of attitudes toward seat belt use. A factor analysis yielded a belief pattern interpreted in terms of five factors, labeled discomfort, worry, risk, effect, and inconvenience. The model appeared useful since an independent measure of attitude to seat belt use (Ao) could be predicted (r = 0.84) from a linear combination of these factor scores. The correlation between the attitude measure and reported use of seat belts was 0.56, or about the same as that between the belief factor combination and reported use. The combination of the and effect factors gave near optimal predictions (r = 0.52). The results were replicated on a new sample. A model of seat belt use was suggested in which conceptions about discomfort of belt usage and effects of belts in an accident were regarded as determinants of usage.