Marie-Line Félonneau

Processes of Place Identification and Residential Satisfaction

What are the connections between an individuals satisfaction with his or her neighborhood and the processes of identifying with the location? A path model was tested in which the length of residence promotes the identification processes, which are in turn likely to influence the degree of satisfaction with the residential environment. The components of residential satisfaction were also isolated to show that all the components of satisfaction are not equally affected by identification. A survey was taken with a sampling of 257 participants all residing in an urban environment in three major French cities. A scale of residential satisfaction and a scale of place identification were used. The tested model shows a good fit with the data. Furthermore, the results show that an individuals sense of identification with his or her neighborhood interacts primarily with the social aspects of satisfaction.

Risk compensation: a male phenomenon? Results from a controlled intervention trial promoting helmet use among cyclists

Prevention tools are challenged by risky behaviors that follow their adoption. Speed increase following helmet use adoption was analyzed among bicyclists enrolled in a controlled intervention trial. Speed and helmet use were assessed by video (2621 recordings, 587 participants). Speeds were similar among helmeted and nonhelmeted female cyclists (16.5 km/h and 16.1 km/h, respectively) but not among male cyclists (helmeted: 19.2 km/h, nonhelmeted: 16.8 km/h). Risk compensation, observed only among male cyclists, was moderate, thus unlikely to offset helmet preventive efficacy.

Gender stereotypes and superior conformity of the self in a sample of cyclists.

In the field of driving, people tend to think they are more competent and more cautious than others. This is the superior conformity of the self (SCS). Our main hypothesis was that, among cyclists, women would show a higher SCS on cautiousness, though men would show a higher SCS concerning competence. 1799 cyclists provided a self-assessment of their own cautiousness and of other peoples cautiousness. The same procedure was used for competence. Consistent with the hypothesis, the SCS was gender-specific: it was more prominent for women concerning cautiousness and more prominent for men concerning competence. These results could explain why people tend to ignore the safety campaigns. They also indicate the importance of adapting messages concerning safety measures to gender.

Citizens’ environmental awareness and responsibility at local level

Citizens have a key role to play in preserving the quality of their local environment. In this article, we examine the relationship between the perception of local ecological risks linked with consumption activities – what we call local ecological awareness – and recognition of a shared environmental responsibility. This study is based on the results of a survey (n = 107) carried out in a peri-urban area close to Bordeaux (South West France). Results show that citizens are able to identify to some extent the local ecological risks linked with household consumption and that they are somewhat distrustful of the environmental commitment of their fellow citizens. The ‘aware’ group (44% of those surveyed) attributes a greater responsibility for local environmental management to households than the ‘optimists’ (27%) and the ‘suspicious’ (29%) groups. Recommendations are made to encourage better involvement on the part of citizens in local environmental management, adapted to the different levels of awareness.

« Femmes au volant, danger au tournant » Les conductrices sont-elles victimes d’une menace de stéréotype ?

Resume En raison d’une sexuation des univers professionnels associant la technique aux hommes et le relationnel aux femmes, celles-ci restent minoritaires dans les metiers de la route. Le stereotype negatif associant les femmes a de faibles competences de conductrices est ainsi susceptible d’avoir quelques consequences tant sur le plan cognitif que comportemental. Conformement au modele de la menace du stereotype, l’activation du stereotype ciblant les conductrices peut-elle inhiber les performances des femmes dans un test de Code de la Route ? Apres une tâche d’associations ayant revele un stereotype largement negatif, 56 etudiantes ont passe un examen du Code de la Route selon deux conditions : une condition experimentale (N = 17), ou le stereotype etait active par une comparaison hommes/femmes Vs une condition controle (N = 39), sans activation. Les resultats montrent que les performances des sujets sont inferieures dans la condition experimentale, demontrant les effets attendus de la menace du stereotype.

Foot-in-the-door and problematic requests: A field experiment

The “Foot-in-the-door” (FITD) is a compliance technique that consists of making a small initial request to a participant, then making a second, more onerous request. In this way greater compliance with the second request is obtained than under a control condition where the focal request is not preceded by the initial request. Most of the studies using this paradigm have tested prosocial requests. So the generalization of this compliance technique to other types of requests remains an open question. The authors carried out two experiments in which the FITD effect on deviant behaviors was tested. Results showed that the FITD technique increased compliance with the focal request, but only among male participants.

Factors that dissuade young drivers from committing traffic violations

During a period of overinvolvement of young drivers in road accidents and an increasing number of police checks, this study was done to identify factors dissuading individuals from committing traffic violations in this segment of the population. The model used examines the perceptions of accident risk and risk of getting a ticket. A special questionnaire was designed to investigate the following subscales: Driving Offences Declared, Perceived Danger, Perceived Police Check, and Perceived Impunity. The sample tested included 514 young adults (324 men, 187 women). Analysis showed committing traffic violations was inhibited mainly by fear of danger. Sex and mileage covered influenced violations: women had a lower Driving Offences Declared score than men, and high-mileage drivers declared committing more violations than low-mileage drivers. Further, those who had ever been ticketed and who had been involved in an accident had higher scores for Driving Offences Declared.

Raising Students Awareness to Climate Change: An Illustration With Binding Communication

Much energy and money is dedicated to increasing climate change awareness and pro-environmental behaviors. Mere communication campaigns, which are often alarmist, are widely used despite their uncertain effectiveness. We suggest that using binding communication strategies would prove more adequate. Binding communication consists in combining a persuasive message and a preparatory act linked to the persuasive message. This procedure is generally reported to be more efficient than a single persuasive message at influencing attitudes and behavior. This hypothesis was tested in a study in which students were presented with a classic climate change communication with/without a preparatory act (participant-proposed solutions). Results showed that although knowledge about climate change increased in both conditions, attitudes and behavior follow-through were positively affected only in the binding communication condition. Therefore, in addressing climate change and global warming behaviors, pairing a persuasive message with personal solution generation is a potentially valid and useful technique.

Conformity, obedience to authority, and compliance without pressure to control cigarette butt pollution

This study compares the effectiveness of three sources of influence [conformity, obedience to authority, and the “but you are free to…” (BYAFT) technique] to induce smokers to put their cigarettes butts in an ashtray rather than dropping them on the ground. Conformity was operationalized with a sign placed above ashtrays. This sign mentioned that most people throw their cigarette butts in the ashtrays. The BYAFT technique was operationalized with a sign mentioning that people were free to throw their cigarette butts in the ashtray. Finally, obedience was operationalized by the setting of the experiment: the Préfecture symbolizing authority and the shopping mall, a “non-authority” setting. Results indicated the main effect of conformity and obedience but not the BYAFT. However, the BYAFT effect depended on the presence or absence of authority and conformity. Interactions between the three influence sources are discussed.

How Do Households Perceive Risks at the Scale of the Environment in Their Own Home

Improving housing performance in ecological terms is a major objective of sustainable development policies. This paper looks at the perception that households have of their environment in their homes, in terms of diagnosis, damages and control. Based on a survey of 107 households, it shows that their environmental concerns only partly reflect current ecological and health risks and that people are finding it difficult to reduce these risks. In order to increase environmental awareness at the level of their homes, the authors highlight the importance of providing support on an individual basis and suggest several courses of action, which should be adapted to the four levels of awareness that were identified by the study.