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 people's 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.
Laboratoire Psychologie, Santé & Qualité de Vie, Université de Bordeaux, F-33076, France. marie-line.felonneau@u-bordeaux2.fr
Marie-Line
ML
Félonneau
Elsa
E
Causse
Aymery
A
Constant
Benjamin
B
Contrand
Antoine
A
Messiah
Emmanuel
E
Lagarde
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006260:Head Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009049:Motorcycles; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012449:Safety; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires