Journal article 131 views 22 downloads
Why do cars get a free ride? The social-ecological roots of motonormativity
,
Marco te Brömmelstroet
Global Environmental Change, Volume: 91, Start page: 102980
Swansea University Author:
Ian Walker
-
PDF | Version of Record
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY license.
Download (1.18MB)
DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.102980
Abstract
Motonormativity is a shared bias whereby people judge motorised mobility differently to other comparable topics. This works against societies addressing climate and public health crises effectively. A social-ecological explanation has been suggested for the phenomenon, in which motonormativity is sh...
| Published in: | Global Environmental Change |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0959-3780 |
| Published: |
Elsevier BV
2025
|
| Online Access: |
Check full text
|
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68899 |
| Abstract: |
Motonormativity is a shared bias whereby people judge motorised mobility differently to other comparable topics. This works against societies addressing climate and public health crises effectively. A social-ecological explanation has been suggested for the phenomenon, in which motonormativity is shaped by people’s environments, but this has not been tested. Here we used a large international sample (N = 2035) and novel within-participants testing to show, for the first time, at least two environmental pathways linked to judgement biases: one related to people’s social surroundings and linked with their explicit views on transport, and a separate, more implicit pathway related to higher-level structural influences such as nationality, and living in rural areas. Additionally, respondents dramatically underestimated public support for non-motorised transport relative to their own, a pluralistic ignorance effect likely reflecting another facet of motonormativity. The social-ecological explanation, with its nested environmental influences, helps explain the ‘stickiness’ of automobility, and implies change will be most likely when multiple facets of a person’s social, physical and cultural surroundings align in supporting non-motorised mobility. |
|---|---|
| Keywords: |
Transportation; Travel mode change; Motonormativity; Social-ecological model; Pluralistic ignorance; Behaviour change |
| College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
| Funders: |
Swansea University |
| Start Page: |
102980 |