The construction of icons as a means of access to the social representation of culture

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the structural elements—and their interrelations—of social representations of culture, circulating among university students. This approach has been employed by many researchers to provide a first level of exploration in terms of descriptions, evaluations, information, and prototypes related to the object of representation. The aim is also to explore if these social representations are different, starting from specific variables, mainly data production context and gender. The sample is made of 620 students (average age of 22) balanced on gender and discipline (physical sciences and engineering, social sciences and humanities, life sciences). We chose a quali-quantitative approach using an ad hoc questionnaire based on the Prototypical Stimuli. In particular, we asked the participants to choose from 18 social constructed (in a pilot study) icons of culture, the five prototypical ones. Then we asked them to write an explanation on the choice of each icon they selected and in the end to classify those icons in order of importance. The collected data were analyzed using the Hierarchical Evocations Technique. Results show the existence of hegemonic representations of culture, shared by all the participants. The theoretical and methodological implications will be presented and discussed.