"Exploring the Cognitive and Affective Mechanisms Behind Subjective Assessments of Travel Amounts"

Journal Article, Environment and Behavior, volume 39, issue 4, pages 494-528

2007

Authors: David T. Ory, Patricia L. Mokhtarian, Gustavo Collantes, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group/Enviroment and Natural Resources Program, 2007-2008

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: Belfer Center Studies in International Security; Energy Technology Innovation Policy; Environment and Natural Resources; Science, Technology, and Public Policy

ABSTRACT

Travel demand models focus on explaining how much individuals actually travel but offer no insight into how much individuals think they travel. The authors propose that the latter is an important determinant of traveler behavior, and that actual mobility is refracted through a variety of filters that magnify or diminish those subjective evaluations of travel amounts. Linear regression models of subjective mobility measures provided by 1,358 San Francisco Bay Area commuters were estimated earlier; the focus of this article is on identifying the potential cognitive and affective mechanisms that influence subjective mobility upward or downward, after controlling for objective mobility. The authors find three major types of mechanisms: awareness-heightening, affective, and comparison-inducing. Recurring patterns of effects in these three categories are analyzed in the light of psychological and marketing research concepts including the availability heuristic, social comparison, relative deprivation, autobiographical memory, and motivation theory.

For more information about this publication please contact the ETIP Coordinator at 617-496-5584.

Full text of this publication is available at:
http://eab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/39/4/494

For Academic Citation: