Hoody, goody or buddy? How travel mode affects social perceptions in urban neighbourhoods

• Published in: Transportation research. Part F, Traffic psychology and behaviour Vol. 21; pp. 219 - 230
• Main Authors: Gatersleben, Birgitta, Murtagh, Niamh, White, Emma
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier India Pvt Ltd 01-11-2013
• Subjects: Car use; Cycling; Mode choice; Social perceptions; Stereotyping; Urban neighbourhoods; Walking; Walking; Cycling; Car use; Mode choice; Social perceptions; Stereotyping; Urban neighbourhoods
• ISSN: 1369-8478; 1873-5517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2013.09.005

•Car use has negative effects on urban communities by affecting social perceptions.•More car use through a relatively poor area is associated with less positive views of that area.•More walking through a relatively poor area is related to more positive views of the area.•Attitudes towards young people are more negative when they are seen from a car.•Attitudes towards young people are most positive when seen from a pedestrian perspective.
When travelling through a new environment people can and do make very quick judgements about the local conditions. This paper explores the idea that such judgements are affected by the travel mode they use. We hypothesise that drivers generate a more superficial impression of the things they observe than those who walk because they are exposed to less information. This prediction is based on social psychological research that demonstrates that information that becomes available in “thin slices” affects superficial judgements. A survey study (n=644) demonstrated that perceptions of a less affluent area are indeed negatively related to more driving and positively related to more walking, but only for those who do not live there. Perceptions of a neighbouring affluent area are positively related to more driving. Two experimental studies (n=245 and n=91) demonstrated that explicit (but not implicit) attitudes towards a group of young people in an ambiguous social situation are more negative when they are viewed from the perspective of a car user in particular in relation to a pedestrian perspective. These findings suggest that mode use may affect communities by influencing social judgements.