Mirilia Bonnes

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.

Environmental Beliefs and Endorsement of Sustainable Development Principles in Water Conservation: Toward a New Human Interdependence Paradigm Scale

It is thought that a dichotomy exists between two apparently contradictory belief systems: the so-called “Human Exception Paradigm” (HEP)—an anthropocentric belief system—and the “New Environmental Paradigm” (NEP), of ecocentric nature. The aim of this article was to test the presence of an integrative, nondichotomic, New Human Interdependence Paradigm (NHIP) and its influence on water conservation practices. The NHIP envisages interdependence between human progress and nature conservation and conceives it as a dynamic process of integration and incorporation of human needs into natural processes. Seven hundred and fifty-nine individuals living in cities of France, Italy, Mexico, and India responded to items of a purposively developed measuring instrument (the NHIP scale), as well to items of the HEP-NEP scale. They also self-reported the frequency of water conservation actions at their households. The NHIP coherently emerged from its observed indicators and it was a slightly better predictor of water conservation than the HEP-NEP scale.

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.

Distinguishing the sources of normative influence on proenvironmental behaviors The role of local norms in household waste recycling

The aim of this study was to assess whether different kinds of social norms make a distinct contribution and are differently associated to a place-related behavior, such as household waste recycling. The construct of “local norms” is introduced to identify the normative influence that derives from people sharing the same spatial-physical setting. This kind of influence is expected to hold particular relevance when dealing with individual behaviors that have spatially defined collective implications. Participants were 452 residents of various Italian cities, who filled in a questionnaire measuring intentions to recycle, attitudes towards recycling, perceived behavioral control, and 4 kinds of norms stemming from a 2 x 2 combination (i.e., injunctive vs. descriptive, and subjective vs. local norms). Structural equation modelling analyses confirmed the empirical distinction of the 4 kinds of norms, and showed their independent effects on recycling intentions. In particular, descriptive norms (both subjective and local) emerged as powerful predictors of the target proenvironmental behavior, both directly and indirectly through their influence on perceived behavioral control. The implications of the distinction among different kinds of social norms and their relationship with the other dimensions are discussed.

Determinants of Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Research teams in five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, UK) developed in common a comparative study on individual attitudes and behaviors towards the environment, and on the importance of environmental issues in the media of these countries. The sample was composed of 742 subjects, teachers and engineers. Results presented here focus on a cross-countries comparison of the media analysis and the questionnaire data. Important differences are observed between the level of pro-environmental behaviors and the nature of their determinants.

The Ambivalence of Attitudes Toward Urban Green Areas: Between Proenvironmental Worldviews and Daily Residential Experience

The ambivalence of attitudes toward urban green areas is investigated through a cross-sectional survey carried out in the city of Rome (N = 500). First, the dimensional structure, and then the personal tendency to hold ambivalent attitudes were analyzed in relation to: (a) broader human values and environmental worldviews (such as biospheric value orientations, ecocentrism vs. anthropocentrism) and (b) specific daily residential experience about urban green areas (perceived quality of neighborhood green areas and self-reported frequency of use of green areas). Results show two separate dimensions (moderately correlated) for attitudes toward urban green areas. The two dimensions are interpreted as measuring appreciation and devaluation of the presence of nature in the city, respectively. They showed different patterns of correlations with the other social-psychological factors considered. Moreover, people with more anthropocentric and apathic worldviews and with egoistic values manifested higher degrees of ambivalence in attitudes toward urban green areas, whereas a less straightforward relationship was found with daily residential experience. The implications of these results for the understanding of people’s relationship with urban green areas are discussed.

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).