An Analysis of the Normative (Non)Compliance and the Interactions among Passengers in the Buenos Aires Subway

Abstract

The subway is a public transportation where the control and freedom of passengers must be regulated to create a peaceful and harmonious environment. Social transgression imposes an environment of discomfort and tension between passengers. This study aims to describe the regulations that Buenos Aires subway passengers know, to investigate the perception of (non)compliance with them, to analyze how the interaction among the passengers in the subway is perceived and how it is related to (non)compliance with the norms of coexistence and safety. The results indicated that the participants perceived a high degree of normative noncompliance. Generalized noncompliance accounts for the existence of informal rules that organize the behavior of passengers in contradiction with the guidelines of formal rules. This double standard causes problems of coexistence and safety in the subway. Normative transgressions negatively affect the interactions among passengers, bringing about a social climate of discomfort and tension.