https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369847818308593
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
“Dehumanization of cyclists predicts self-reported aggressive behaviour”
(4 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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"If we can put a human face to cyclists, we may improve attitudes and reduce aggression directed at on-road cyclists."
S'funny...I mean, I'm no oil painting but I'm pretty sure that I have a human face that isn't actually hidden when I'm on one of my pedal cycles (unlike when I'm on my motorcycle). Perhaps the issue is not that cyclists don't have a human face, but that non-cyclists manage not to see it? It might just be careless wording, but that sentence does read to me as if it's suggesting that the problem lies with the cyclists, not the people who dehumanise them.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I'm not entirely certain this is the correct way round...
I suspect it's drivers being dehumanised when they're behind the wheel.
See also "altruistic punishment":
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130212-why-you-really-hate-cyclists
Or the more academic:
Bicycle Backlash - Qualitative Examination of Aggressive Driver–Bicyclist Interactions
But Disney knew of this dehumanising aspect of the motor car in the 1950's.
Robert
Posted 5 years ago # -
I'm not entirely certain this is the correct way round...
I suspect it's drivers being dehumanised when they're behind the wheel.I think it's probabaly both groups. The self-reporting group sees a person on a bike, but makes the mental connection with "cyclist": something slower than they; an obstacle, a thing in the way; it might as well be a lawnmower or steamroller. The more enlightened see beyond the means of travel and make the mental connection with "person": a living, breathing thing with family and friends.
We see a car or a van, and 'we' make the mental connection with the person at the wheel, while low quality journalism ascribes the movements of the vehicle wholly to itself, resulting in "anomalous behaviour", such as running down children outside schools and destroying street furniture.
Posted 5 years ago #
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