The Social Representation of the Yellow Vests Among Young French People: An Explanatory Study

Abstract : The crisis of the Yellow Vests in France has vastly occupied the media scene since November 2018, and the Great National Debate has just come to an end. The hypothesis can be put forward that the Yellow Vests have become an object of social representation over the months. This exploratory study was performed among a population of young people (average age= 20.5) and took place in two phases: a free associations test to isolate the big themes and a first structure of the social representation (N=11), and a questionnaire of "calling into question" (N=94) to confirm the central or peripheral position of the items. The collection of data 4 months after the beginning of the movement does not put forward the first claims such as the spending power and attests for the media coverage of violence. The Chi-Squared Test shows some significant differences between men and women.