The social representations of cycling practices: An analysis of symbolic, emotional, material and bodily components, and their implication for policies

Abstract

Drawing on social representation theory and its connections with approaches to embodiment and social practice, the paper reports the result of a survey investigation (based on an on-line semi-structured questionnaire; N = 305) that studied the cognitive, emotional and sensorial components of the social representations of cycling. The general aim was to show how these theoretical frameworks can be used to identify the social-cultural barriers that might hamper the individual use of the bike for everyday purposes in addition to the mere infrastructural ones, and to assess possible variabilities in function of various factors of social-psychological (i.e. the perceived quality of the residential environment), experiential (i.e. linked to the individual daily practices), and geographical (i.e. big vs small urban areas of residence) nature. Results confirm the potentialities of these models to provide a deeper understanding of cycling practices, for example, suggesting, how, rather than being univocal and homogenous, people’s shared conceptions regarding the topic investigated can vary depending on many of the factors considered, among which those of experiential and geographical nature seem to play a prominent role. The paper also discusses the implications for policies directed to fostering the adoption of more sustainable forms of transport within and outside urban areas, as well as their ability to broaden the theoretical understanding of cycling behaviour within social sciences in general.