Représentation sociale du développement durable chez des étudiants: Effets des valeurs pro-environnementales sur les schèmes représentationnels
Social Representation of Sustainable Development in Students: Impact of Pro-environmental Values on Representational Schemes

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this study is to test the effects of the activation of pro-environmental values on students' social representation of sustainable development. Following the unrelated studies paradigm, in the experimental condition subjects (N=43) were primed with terms linked to the value "protection of the environment" (Schwartz, 1992). Then, they had to fill in a questionnaire on sustainable development. They were asked to answer, either in their proper name (N=23), or "according to the French population" (N=20). The aim of these instructions is to reveal a "masked" zone of the representation, if it exits. Subjects in the control condition (N=43) were not primed. Results show first, that the social representation of sustainable development does not possess a masked zone; second, that people primed with the value "protection of the environment" have a cognitive activity less directly linked to practices. The effect and its implications are discussed.

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