Marino Bonaiuto

Indexes of perceived residential environment quality and neighbourhood attachment in urban environments: a confirmation study on the city of Rome

Abstract This paper presents two instruments measuring the quality of the relationship that inhabitants have with their urban neighbourhoods. These instruments consist of 11 scales measuring the perceived environmental qualities of urban neighbourhoods and one scale measuring neighbourhood attachment. The 11 scales are included in four generative criteria as follows: three scales concern spatial aspects (i.e. architectural-planning space, organization and accessibility of space, green space); one concerns human aspects (i.e. people and social relations); four concern functional aspects (i.e. welfare, recreational, commercial, transport services); three concern contextual aspects (i.e. pace of life, environmental health, upkeep). The study objectives were: (a) to compare the structure and number of both indexes of perceived environmental quality and the neighbourhood attachment index with respect to the findings of a study (see [J. Environ. Psychol. 19 (1999) 331]) that used a previous version of these instruments; (b) to improve the psychometric qualities (i.e. internal consistency coefficients) of the used tools. The instruments have the form of a self-reported questionnaire which was administered to 312 residents in seven neighbourhoods (differing in various features) of a great urban context like the city of Rome. A series of Principal Component Analyses (PCA) was performed on the data. Results confirm the factorial structure of the scales, which include 19 perceived quality indexes (150 items total) and one neighbourhood attachment index (eight items). The scales show an increased level of reliability with respect to earlier studies.

Local identity processes and environmental attitudes in land use changes: The case of natural protected areas☆

The paper concerns pro-environmental attitudes, local identity and place attachment (PA) in the institution of protected natural areas. A theoretical claim is made to frame traditional social psychological research on environmental concern into a “place specific” perspective. Two studies are presented in which pro-environmental attitudes, regional identity (RI) and PA are analysed in two different Italian national parks. In study one (N=115), local residents (people who live inside the park area) and non-local residents (people who live in the same region but outside the park area) were interviewed by questionnaire. The results showed local groups with negative attitudes toward both general and specific natural protected areas and high degrees of RI and PA and non-local groups with the opposite pattern. In study two (N=854), the same differences between locals and non-locals were confirmed in a larger sample; also, various subgroups of local residents who differ in terms of their prevalent economic activities and specific interests were compared. Subjects more involved in local economic activities showed more negative attitudes toward natural protected areas (generally and specifically) and higher degrees of RI and place attachment than subjects more involved in ecological and pro-environmental activities. Both theoretical and policymaking implications of these results are discussed.

Psychological theories for environmental issues

Contents: Theory and practice in environmental psychology - an introduction, Mirilia Bonnes, Terence Lee and Marino Bonaiuto Schema theory and the role of socio-spatial schemata in environmental psychology, Terence Lee Cognitive processes theories and environmental issues, Maria Rosa Baroni Perception theories and the environmental experience, Paulo Bonaiuto, Anne Maria Giannini and Valeria Biasi Theory of attachment and place attachment, Maria Vittoria Giuliani Understanding proenvironmental attitudes and behavior: an analysis and review of research based on the theory of planned behavior, Henk Staats Identity theories and environmental psychology, Clare Twigger-Ross, Marino Bonaiuto and Glynis Breakwell Rhetorical approach and discursive psychology: the study of environmental discourse, Antonio Aiello and Marino Bonaiuto Subject index Author index.

Environmental Concern, Regional Identity, and Support for Protected Areas in Italy

Two field studies examined the relations between environmental concern, regional identity, and support for the institution of natural protected areas. Multiple regression (Study 1, N = 316) and structural equation modeling (Study 2, N = 157) were performed to assess the role of general and specific proenvironmental attitudes and regional identity in predicting participants’ support for two new protected areas in Italy. As expected, results show the positive role of general and specific proenvironmental attitudes, as well as the positive role of regional identity, in predicting support for the protected areas considered. Implications of the results for the enhancement of public levels of consensus in the designation and management of natural protected areas are discussed.

Cross-Validation of Abbreviated Perceived Residential Environment Quality (PREQ) and Neighborhood Attachment (NA) Indicators

This article presents the validation by confirmatory factor analysis of abbreviated versions of instruments focusing on the neighborhood residential level, perceived residential environment quality indicators (PREQIs), and neighborhood attachment (NA). A sample of 1,488 residents in various neighborhoods of 11 Italian middle- and low-population cities filled in a questionnaire including 12 scales (N = 158), 11 PREQ scales, and 1 NA scale. The sample was randomly split-half in a calibration sample and a validation sample. Results showed good fit indexes for factorial structures including overall 19 PREQIs and 1 NA indicators, each one composed of three or four items (N = 66). Despite the high reduction of items, the shortened PREQIs and NA yield good or at least acceptable internal consistency, and fulfill convergent and discriminant construct validity criteria. Hence, they are well suited for use in research designs focusing on multiple measures of environmental quality of residential places.

Neighborhood Evaluation within a Multiplace Perspective on Urban Activities

Within place theory, the research investigated relationships between activities carried out in a place and evaluative aspects of the same place. In the study, 152 inhabitants, ages 18 to 55, all living in the same neighborhood of Rome (Italy) were sampled by sex. An individual questionnaire included three scales to measure frequency of activities (23 items for neighborhood, 32 items for city center, and 11 items for suburbs) and a 47-item scale to measure degree of satisfaction/dissatisfaction toward various aspects of neighborhood. Multivariate data analyses identified four groups of inhabitants (neighborhood confined, marginal escape users, multiplace hyperactive, and quality users), each characterized by a specific pattern of multiplace urban activity. Each group was characterized by sociodemographic and/or residential variables. Finally, each group was also characterized by a specific pattern of neighborhood evaluations, with respect to three main aspects (building/population density and uninhabitability, social-spatial insecurity, and functional inadequacy/unavailability).

Effects of different types of hand gestures in persuasive speech on receivers’ evaluations

Hand gestures have a close link with speech and with social perception and persuasion processes, however to date no one has experimentally investigated the role of hand gestures alone in persuasive speech. An experiment with undergraduates was conducted using 5 video-messages in which only hand gestures of the speaker were manipulated along five types. ANOVAs reveal effect of gesture type on receivers’ evaluation of message persuasiveness, speaker communication style effectiveness, and speakers composure and competence. A control study (Experiment 2) confirms that these effects are due to visible gestures. Speech accompanying gestures appear to play a causal role in social perception.

Social-Psychological Approaches in Environment-Behavior Studies

Environment-behavior studies need to strengthen theoretical formulations and to clarify methodological assumptions. This is a valid option in general, but a particularly important one when psychological approaches are adopted. Actually, psychology is increasingly a very large umbrella under which dramatically different theoretical assumptions and methodological practices co-exist. And the same is true, perhaps on a smaller scale, for that part of psychology specifically devoted to environment-behavior research, namely environmental psychology. With respect to this, environmental psychology, studying people-environment relations or transactions, aims on one side to establish itself as an applied psychological discipline; and on the other, it aims to understand psychological processes “in the real world” acquiring internal relevance for psychology in general.

Grilling Politicians Politicians' Answers to Questions in Television Interviews and Courtroom Examinations

This research can be regarded as a “natural experiment” on political equivocation in which the language of five well-known politicians, taken from television interviews, is compared with the language of five different politicians speaking in a courtroom setting. Videotapes from both contexts were transcribed and then systematically analyzed by means of reliable category systems of questions and answers based on the literature. Italian politicians employ elaboration as their preferred answer, both in television interviews and in courtroom examinations. Differences exist between legal and political contexts in the distribution of questions, answers, and in their associations (i.e., in different contexts the same questions have a different effect on answers). The findings are discussed in terms of the “situational” theory of political equivocation, integrated with a “contextual” explanation.

Residential satisfaction and perceived urban quality

The quality of the urban environment, and of the residential environment in particular, is one of the main components of peoples overall quality of life. Global satisfaction with peoples own residential environment has both affective and cognitive components. On the one hand, people experience feelings with respect to their own houses/neighborhoods (ie, place attachment); on the other hand, they assess the degree of quality for each different feature of their own houses/neighborhoods (ie, residential quality). Knowing residential satisfaction, residential attachment, and residential quality with reference to the inhabitants of a specific place can help its design, management, and policy.