motonormativity means an unconscious cognitive bias in which the assumption is made that motor car ownership and use is an unremarkable social norm. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 100 out of 100.
Why this word is great
MOTONORMATIVITY — [Noun] An unconscious cognitive bias that assumes car ownership and use is an unremarkable and default social norm. From moto- (a combining form from "motor car") + normativity (from "normative," meaning establishing a standard). Coined by Ian Walker, Alan Tapp, and Adrian Davis in a 2023 study. Unlike "car dependency" (which describes the structural cage that necessitates automobile use) or "technological determinism" (a grand theory of societal shaping by tools), motonormativity is the quiet, internalized faith that the cage is the natural state of the world. It is the casual question of "What do you drive?" as a social credential, the blank space on a form that asks only for a parking pass, and the cinematic cut from a character entering a car to arriving at a destination, erasing all cost and friction. It is the sound of an engine we have long stopped hearing, mistaking its drone for the silence of the world.
noun
- An unconscious cognitive bias in which the assumption is made that motor car ownership and use is an unremarkable social norm.“Decisions about motor transport, by individuals and policy-makers, show unconscious biases due to cultural assumptions about the role of private cars - a phenomenon we term motonormativity.”