The objective of this paper is to compare the social representation of insurance among French and Senegalese. Assuming a different social representation induced by the social context, the study was conducted among French (N=186) and Senegalese (N=136) students. Data collected through free associations questionnaires were subjected to hierarchical analysis. The analysis highlights a difference in the structuring of the social representation of insurance centred on concerns in line with the socio-economic environment of each of the two groups. These results are in line with the principle of distance from the object which drives the construction of social representation noted in several studies.