Search

Motivation has long been implicated as an antecedent to place attachment among recreationists. Research has framed this association around expectancy theory, suggesting that the realization of preferred modes of experience leads to a positive evaluation of a setting (i.e., attachment). In this study, we tested an alternative hypothesis rooted in self-determination theory, which purported that place attachment arises from the realization of human needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. We tested this hypothesis using structural equation modeling with data from a study of visitors to wilderness areas in the southeastern United States. Results support the proposition that perceptions of a landscape supporting autonomy, relatedness, and competence are associated with identification, dependence, and emotional connection with that landscape. Reframing the association between motivation and place attachment around psychological needs furthers the generalizability of results and highlights the importance of wilderness as a context for self-determined thought and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the relationships among psychological constructs such as values and motivations that influence proenvironmental behavior provides public land management agencies with guidance on how to minimize stakeholder impacts on the environment. A rich body of research has demonstrated that values form a tripartite structure underlying environmental concern, encompassing biospheric, egoistic, and altruistic values; however, recent work has suggested hedonic values are also an instrumental basis for environmental concern. Few studies have tested this proposition. We contend that hedonic values are instrumental in explaining the psychological processes that gird individual decisions, particularly in nature-based settings where stakeholder decisions are compelled by leisure pursuits. Our results indicate that place-based motivations, particularly escape from the pressures of everyday life, can help close the prominent value–action gap and explain why outdoor recreationists engage in minimum-impact activities specified in the U.S. Leave No Trace educational outreach program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]