Natural and civic place attachment and the relation to pro-environmental behaviours in Trail and Nelson, British Columbia

• Main Author: Scannell, Leila
• Other Authors: Gifford, Robert
• Language: English; en
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: place attachment; pro-environmental behaviour; Nelson; Trail; environmental perceptions; place identity; British Columbia; environmental quality; UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Psychology::Social psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/925

The relation between place attachment and pro-environmental behaviour has not been thoroughly examined. Of the few studies to have investigated this, findings conflict (Uzzell, Pol, & Badenas, 2002; Vaske & Kobrin, 2001). Possibly, these inconsistencies relate to the definition of place attachment. The current study distinguished two dimensions of place attachment: social-symbolic (civic), and physical-natural. Data were collected from 104 community members in two proximate towns. Participants indicated their levels of natural and civic attachment, evaluated the current and future local environmental quality, and reported their pro-environmental behaviours. Greater place attachment was associated with more positive current evaluations in Trail. Surprisingly, environmental evaluations did not predict pro-environmental behaviour in either town. Both types of place attachment predicted pro-environmental behaviour in Nelson, but in Trail, only natural attachment was significant. Thus, for different cities, different types of place attachment will predict pro-environmental behaviour. Implications and directions for further research are discussed.