Understanding the observance and non – observance of norms that govern social coexistence: representations around masculinity and development of risky and aggressive behavior when driving

ALEJANDRA MARTÍNEZ; ALDO MERLINO

University of Illinois - EEUU

Congreso; 5th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry; 2009

University of Illinois

We discuss some of the results obtained in a qualitative research work, which main objective was to identify how car drivers justify their lack of respect for vehicular transit norms. One of the main conclusions that we discuss here, is the one that associates the non - observance of transit norms (among male drivers) with social representations that are associated with masculinity. We show people’s expressions about how a “true” man must be, and how those expressions are associated to justifications that the interviewees give about the non-observance of transit norms. Finally, we discuss about the possible incidence of representations of masculinity on risky and aggressive behaviors developed by men while driving.