Politeness in the Urban Environment: Is City Life Still Synonymous with Civility?

In: Environment and behavior: eb ; publ. in coop. with the Environmental Design Research Association, Band 33, Heft 5, S. 611-625

Abstract

This article examines the prevalence of politeness or civil behaviors in Paris and a smaller French provincial city (Nantes). Do people entering a large department store hold the door open for the person behind them? With a sample of 880 participants, observed at the entrance of department stores, no significant sex differences were found (for the participant or the person for whom the door could be held). Parisians were significantly less civil than their provincial counterparts, and high-density conditions reduced civil behavior in both settings. In the presence of a polite model (the preceding person holding the door open for the participant), Parisians, but not the provincial sample, are influenced by the preceding situation; the differences between Paris and the provincial city are in this case minimal. Results are considered in terms of social modeling: Being exposed to a polite behavior reactivates the cultural norm of politeness in Parisians.