Road prevention and safety: an instrument for measuring locus of control in the social marketing perspective.

We intend to offer a first contribution to the construction of a new instrument for measuring locus of control in driving behavior. The analysis of the metric properties of the obtained scale, called LOC-db — conducted through a first exploratory phase and a second confirmative one — shows a good fit to the data of the multidimensional model adopted in the construction of the scale itself. The results obtained show a more frequent external rather than internal locus of control in participants examined, and moreover: substantial differences between expectations of control of old participants compared to the other age groups; between those with lower education and the others; between the more- and less- experienced drivers. In a social marketing perspective, this demands the implementation of several targeted action strategies knowing that, locus of control being a substantially stable element of the personality, targeted interventions of remarkable incisiveness and therefore of considerable commitment and breadth are necessary.