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

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. The authors 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.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2013.09.005
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847813000806
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13698478
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Gatersleben, Birgitta
  • Murtagh, Niamh
  • White, Emma
• Publication Date: 2013-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 219-230
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 1369-8478
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13698478

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Judgment (Human characteristics); Neighborhoods; Perception; Psychological aspects; Social psychology; Transportation modes; Urban areas
• Subject Areas: Highways; Passenger Transportation; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01505257
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 27 2014 11:03AM