As long as I don't have to drive myself: The influence of trait anxiety in the context of fear of giving up control on the acceptance of autonomous shuttle buses

As a new, highly complex, and far-reaching technology, autonomous driving can be associated with various fears and uncertainties. However, recent findings show that high trait anxiety can positively contribute to the intention to use autonomous vehicles. An explanation for this is that the possibility of handing over one's driving control to an AI is even more relieving for more anxious people. Our study aimed to test whether this explanation can be supported by investigating to what extent this relationship can be applied to buses in which control is handed over per se – in the conventional bus to a driver, in the autonomous bus to the AI. We also analyzed how the fear of giving up control mediates the relationship between the trait anxiety and the intention to use. In a quasi-experimental study, 253 subjects were surveyed while riding an autonomous or conventional electric bus. The results confirmed a positive association between trait anxiety and intention to use in the overall sample but not in the autonomous and conventional subsamples. Contrary to our assumptions, fear of giving up control served as a slightly suppressive but not significant mediator. The results were independent of whether control was handed over to a human driver in the conventional electric bus or to AI in the autonomous bus. Our study thus provides fundamental new insights into the acceptance of autonomous vehicles and buses in general and opens the door for subsequent research based on these findings.