Representations and normative reference models in adolescent moped riders

Abstract

IntroductionThe influence of peers in young people appears in different areas such as drug use or risk-taking. Regarding road risk, Gaymard (2009) showed that transgressions of the highway code among young motorists were influenced by peers. ObjectiveThis study explores the representation of the moped in adolescents, as well as the normative models of reference that influence it, in order to better understand what underlies the practices of young users. MethodInspired by the work considering the social representation as a normative system, we tested with a group of teenager scooter drivers, the influence of two normative models; that of parents and that of peers. With this in mind, we used a questionnaire of alternative choices. ResultsThe results, updated by structural equation modeling, show that the representation of moped among adolescents is organized around group values and transgressions valued by peers. The moped is perceived as a tool of emancipation towards parents and integration into the group through fun uses rather than as a means of transportation to the first place. ConclusionWe adapted tools that allowed us to show that peers were the normative anchor group for youth, but that parents impacted representation on specific and unconditional points. The two normative poles appear indissociable, encouraging young people to constantly find compromises between them by means of a “normative negotiation” (Gaymard, 2003).