# Assessing the Effect of Drivers' Gender on Their Intention to Use Fully Automated Vehicles
## 2 Methods
### Description of the Questionnaire  
The research questionnaire was composed of four main sections:  
The first section inquired about demographic data, including gender (male/female/other; \"other\" was never chosen as a response, so that the variable was dichotomized), educational level, city of residence, income level and driving-related information (years since firstly licensed, type of vehicle most commonly driven, driving frequency).  
The second part of the survey comprised a Likert-based questionnaire consisting of 20 questions, using a 5-point (1-5) scale, i.e., from 1 (not at all \(\rightarrow\) no relevance/value/improvement perceived at all) to 5 (too much \(\rightarrow\) much relevance/value/improvement perceived). Drivers were asked about their assessment of five different key characteristics of fully automated vehicles, namely: greater connectivity (4 items; \(\alpha\) = 0.726), reduced driving demands (4 items; \(\alpha\) = 0.705), energy efficiency (4 items; \(\alpha\) = 0.769), travel efficiency (4 items; \(\alpha\) = 0.762), and improved safety (4 items; \(\alpha\) = 0.801). The valuation of these features was based on a four-item subscale for each feature, addressing: (a) perceived relevance; (b) value attributed; (c) the degree to which it may improve driving experience, and (d) the actual viability or likelihood of the feature.  
The third part of the survey comprised a 5-item (\(\alpha\) = 0.840) attitude questionnaire aimed at assessing drivers' intention to use an automated vehicle (example item: If during the next years I will have enough budget, I plan to buy an AV). The scale used a (1-5) scale, being 1 (totally disagree) and 5 (totally agree) [6].  
Finally, the fourth part of the survey was aimed to assess drivers' degree of interaction with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs; to be used as a control variable) in a scale ranging between 1 (very scarce interaction) and 5 (very high interaction). The item used for this purpose was: \"Please tell us your degree of usual interaction with smartphones, computers and/or other devices which are normally connected to the Internet\".  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Feature** & **Category** & **Frequency** & **Percentage** & **Population Census Data a** \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Gender} & Female & 423 & 49.4\% & 50.9\% \\  & Male & 433 & 50.6\% & 49.1\% \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Age Group} & \textless{}25 & 92 & 10.7\% & 8.2\% b \\  & 25–34 & 197 & 23\% & 13.0\% \\  & 35–44 & 253 & 29.5\% & 17.4\% \\  & 45–54 & 223 & 26\% & 18.7\% \\  & \textgreater{}54 & 91 & 10.6\% & 42.7\% \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Educational level} & Primary school & 63 & 7.4\% & \\  & Secondary-high school & 376 & 43.9\% & \\  & Technical education & 133 & 15.5\% & \\  & University & 284 & 33.2\% & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Years since firstly licensed} & Less than 5 years & 102 & 11.9\% & \\  & 5 to 10 years & 138 & 16.1\% & \\  & More than 10 years & 616 & 72\% & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Type of vehicle (most driven)} & Private car & 801 & 93.5\% & \\  & Motorcycle & 32 & 3.7\% & \\ \cline{1-1}  & Van/Light truck & 14 & 1.6\% & \\ \cline{1-1}  & Other (moped, electric & 9 & 1.2\% \\ \cline{1-1}  & two-seater) & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Driving frequency (weekly basis)} & Daily & 376 & 44\% & \\ \cline{1-1}  & 4–6 days a week & 239 & 27.9\% & \\ \cline{1-1}  & 2–3 days a week & 141 & 16.6\% & \\ \cline{1-1}  & 1 day a week or less & 100 & 11.7\% & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Notes for the Table: a Population-based data [44] was included to compare sample distribution in terms of gender and age group; b age group percentages are based on the population census over 18, to make it comparable with driving population.  
\end{table}
Table 1: Study partakers’ sociodemographic data and basic driving features.