ABSTRACT Aggressive behavior when moving through traffic is recognized as a serious problem and safety hazard with respect to car drivers. By contrast, aggressive behavior by cyclists has received little attention, although it also has potential for harm to others and may lead to conflict between road users. The limited body of past research focused on hostile anger expression by cyclists as a way of expressing anger. By contrast, the current research provides evidence on cyclists' use of instrumental aggression in terms of making faster or smoother progress. In a cross‐sectional study with a representative sample of cyclists in Germany ( N = 1240, 685 men, 555 women), participants completed measures of their aggressive cycling behavior, frequency of cycling, perceptions of others' aggressive cycling, and traffic‐related stress. A subgroup of participants who also identified as car drivers ( n = 1135) additionally completed a measure of aggressive car driving. Self‐reported aggressive cycling was higher among men than among women. Age and frequency of using the bike were negatively related to aggressive cycling, whereas traffic‐related stress showed a positive association. Reflecting the “better‐than‐average” effect, participants believed that others showed significantly more aggressive cycling than themselves. Finally, we found a strong correlation between self‐reports of aggressive cycling and aggressive car driving. The findings highlight the need for further research on aggressive cycling and the development of effective strategies for reducing aggressive behavior on the road in different modes of transport.
Krahé et al. (Thu,) studied this question.