Drawing from literature on place, this dissertation studies place dynamics in relationships between people and a mixed amenity place. Using Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah, as a case study, I use a social constructionist approach to examine the sense of place held by those who live nearest to the lake. I analyze qualitative interview and focus group data as well as quantitative survey data to discern the meanings the lake holds for these nearest neighbors and to examine distinctions between people who see the lake differently. This study is relatively unique in its examination of relationships with a mixed amenity place, as prior place research has focused on high amenity places such as resort locations. A number of distinctions were found. Place attachment to GSL was less widespread than seen with high amenity places, and there were some residents for whom the lake held negative meanings. The lake held multiple meanings for many research participants, including combinations that appeared incongruous in mixing both positive and negative lake images. Some participants appeared to have no sense of the lake. Additionally, there was evidence of social stigma related to living near the lake. This study can help natural resource managers, community leaders and policy makers to better understand the relationships between local residents and GSL, which prior place research has shown to be a useful indicator of environmental concern, commitment to the place, and support for resource management. There were many things residents did not appear to know about the lake, including, for example, the natural workings of the lake ecosystem, the effect built features have had on this ecosystem, and the economic contributions to local communities, counties and the state from lake-related enterprises. Also of interest, these nearest neighbors talked about how changes related to the lake have affected them. This study provides justification for further work on people-place dynamics with mixed amenity places, as it revealed dynamics not be seen in research on higher amenity settings. The study also demonstrates the need for continued social science research on GSL, to provide further understanding of people's relationships with this important place.

<p>Tidigare forskning har visat att individers omgivning (klimat, natur) har relativt stor inverkan för hur pass stor vemodet blir vid byte till en ny omgivning. Omgivningen anses även påverka och forma individens personlighetsdrag. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vilka individtyper som är mest villiga till att byta ort för ett lämpligt arbete, i relation till deras huvudsakliga uppväxtort. Undersökningen bestod av 250 deltagare. Resultatet redovisade signifikanta samband mellan både uppväxtort och attityd till att arbeta i stora och mindre städer. Inget signifikant samband erhölls mellan de olika personlighetsdragen i relation till flyttbenägenhet. Det personlighetsdrag som starkast påverkar individens flyttbenägenhet var öppenhet. Män rapporterades vara mer flyttbenägna än kvinnor, och generellt tenderar de att vara uppvuxna i glesbygd.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Montana, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Mar. 14, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-117).

Many view tourism as a tool for community development. Especially in the rural areas experiencing economic hardships, tourism often is considered an instrument for revitalization of a local economy helping to improve quality of life and protect natural and cultural resources. However, many researchers have raised concerns about an overly optimistic view by asserting that tourism development inevitably affects the corresponding community. Empirical studies suggest that development of tourism brings environmental, sociocultural, and economic changes to the community where it is developed. Thus, it is important that planners look at the attitudes of local people towards tourism development in their community before an actual development takes place. The conceptual basis of this study is development and change theory and empirical findings of tourism impact research. This study provides information to assist in understanding questions related to the rural communities’ tourism planning process in a development context, and residents’ perceptions of the impact of tourism and its further development. A self-administered mail-back survey was administered to see how the residents of Brewster County, Texas perceive tourism development in the region. Considering the 43% of the Hispanic population in the area, both English and Spanish versions of the questionnaires were sent to the possible respondents. The overall response rate was 37% after two rounds of survey administered during January and February of 2006. The structural model confirmed that people’s value orientation regarding nature was an important variable that explained residents’ community attachment, which influenced their attitudes toward tourism through attitudes toward local participation. The results indicated that residents’ values were oriented toward nature and that they were highly attached to their communities. In addition, their tourism attitudes were varied based on the types of tourism impacts they were expecting. Although they were supportive of tourism related development, they felt that certain types of tourism development were more appropriate for their community. Specifically, “medium impact” tourism development were perceived to be desirable for the northern part of the region, whereas low impact development options were perceived to be more acceptable for the southern part of the region by their residents.

Tidigare forskning har visat att individers omgivning (klimat, natur) har relativt stor inverkan för hur pass stor vemodet blir vid byte till en ny omgivning. Omgivningen anses även påverka och forma individens personlighetsdrag. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vilka individtyper som är mest villiga till att byta ort för ett lämpligt arbete, i relation till deras huvudsakliga uppväxtort. Undersökningen bestod av 250 deltagare. Resultatet redovisade signifikanta samband mellan både uppväxtort och attityd till att arbeta i stora och mindre städer. Inget signifikant samband erhölls mellan de olika personlighetsdragen i relation till flyttbenägenhet. Det personlighetsdrag som starkast påverkar individens flyttbenägenhet var öppenhet. Män rapporterades vara mer flyttbenägna än kvinnor, och generellt tenderar de att vara uppvuxna i glesbygd.

This thesis examines the everyday experiences of Anglophone communities in three different regions of Quebec – the Gaspésie, Gatineau and Eastern Townships – with the aim to understand their sense of place. Specifically, the focus is on the role of different geographic contexts on everyday access to social services, particularly healthcare, and how these experiences contribute to Anglophones’ place attachment. Data collection involved semi-structured personal interviews with ten participants in each region. Comparative analysis yielded three main findings: (1) issues with accessing healthcare in English reinforces Anglophones’ minority status; (2) in spite of the challenges faced as a linguistic minority, Anglophones demonstrate a strong sense of place to their region; and (3) feelings of home, heritage, and rootedness constitute elements in Anglophones’ place attachment and contribute to their sense of place in Quebec. The study also concludes that age, mobility, and location are important variables in influencing everyday experiences in each of the three regions.

This thesis examines the everyday experiences of Anglophone communities in three different regions of Quebec – the Gaspésie, Gatineau and Eastern Townships – with the aim to understand their sense of place. Specifically, the focus is on the role of different geographic contexts on everyday access to social services, particularly healthcare, and how these experiences contribute to Anglophones’ place attachment. Data collection involved semi-structured personal interviews with ten participants in each region. Comparative analysis yielded three main findings: (1) issues with accessing healthcare in English reinforces Anglophones’ minority status; (2) in spite of the challenges faced as a linguistic minority, Anglophones demonstrate a strong sense of place to their region; and (3) feelings of home, heritage, and rootedness constitute elements in Anglophones’ place attachment and contribute to their sense of place in Quebec. The study also concludes that age, mobility, and location are important variables in influencing everyday experiences in each of the three regions.

This thesis explores the relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental behaviour expressed by visitors to Point Pelee National Park. Place attachment, the functional, cognitive and emotional bond with a place, may play a role in promoting environmentally responsible behaviours. This may be especially true of place-specific pro-environmental behaviours; however place attachment may also have a "carry-over" effect in that its impact on individuals' self identity may also foster pro-environmental behaviour in individuals' every day lives. <br /><br /> An exploration of these relationships was achieved, first by measuring the intensity of place attachment and pro-environment behavioural intentions expressed by visitors to Point Pelee National Park. This was followed by an examination of the relationship between these two constructs using correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. Data was collected with a mail-based self-completed questionnaire. A quota sample of visitors to Point Pelee National Park was utilized. A response rate of 32% (<em>n</em> = 355) was achieved. <br /><br /> The relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental intentions was explored further through the measurement of several related variables. These factors include place satisfaction (based on an appraisal of nature, social and activity-based environments), motivation for visiting the park (related to social interaction and nature observation, as well as activity-based and learning opportunities), distance between the park and visitors' residences, membership in environmental organizations, and visitation patterns including visitation to the park during childhood, length of affiliation with the park, length of visit to the park, and frequency of visitation to the park. Theoretical and empirical research suggests that these factors may affect place attachment, pro-environment behavioural intentions, and/or the relationship between these two constructs. <br /><br /> Study results found positive associations between place attachment and all of these variables with the exception of visitation motives associated with learning and engaging in a favourite activity. The strongest predictive relationships were observed with anti-substitution (the inability of an individual to substitute the park for another destination because of a lack of resources such as time or money or a lack of awareness of comparable sites) followed by frequency of visits to the park; park commitment (based on Friends group membership and donations of time and money to the Friends group); Friends of Point Pelee (FoPP) membership; and park relationship (which was based on visitation to the park as a child and length of affiliation); and, satisfaction with the park. <br /><br /> Results support the proposition that place attachment has a strong positive association with both park-specific pro-environment behavioural intentions (e. g. , Write letters in support of Point Pelee N. P. and similar protected areas) as well as general pro-environment behavioural intentions (e. g. , Pay extra for transportation if it is environmentally-friendly). Place attachment strongly predicted park-specific, and moderately predicted general pro-environmental intentions. A number of other variables had an indirect effect on park-specific intentions; notable effects were demonstrated by frequency of visits; park relationship; visitation to the park as a child; place satisfaction; social satisfaction; FoPP membership; and, park commitment; anti-substitution. These affects were mediated by place attachment. After place attachment the strongest predictors of park-specific intentions were anti-substitution; frequency of visits; park commitment; and, general environmental commitment (which was based on membership in an environmental organization and donations of time and money to that organization). <br /><br /> Place attachment was not the only direct predicator of general pro-environmental intentions; general environmental commitment and membership in an environmental organization also directly predicted general pro-environmental intentions. Notable indirect effects, mediated by place attachment were produced by frequency of visits; park relationship; FoPP membership; park commitment; and anti-substitution. The strongest predictors of general pro-environmental intentions were general environmental commitment, followed by place attachment, membership in an environmental organization, and frequency of park visitation. <br /><br /> These findings correspond with much of the literature published on place attachment formation and the development of pro-environmental behaviours. The most notable contribution of this study is its comparison of place attachment's impact on general versus place-specific behaviours, and the role that several related variables play in this relationship.

The images of tourist destinations significantly influence travel choices. Accordingly, destination marketers make great efforts to inform their potential consumers about their destinations using deliberately designed projected images. This research focuses on a Chinese tourism destination, Qingdao, exploring the relationships between the images projected by Qingdao government agencies and those perceived by current visitors and by residents. It also examines the factors that influence the image formation of visitors and residents. Three sources of information are used in this research: promotional materials issued by the Qingdao municipal government and the Qingdao Tourism Administration, key informant interview transcripts and a questionnaires survey. The promotional materials were collected from the aforementioned agencies in May 2009. Key informant interviews were conducted in April and May 2009. Self-administered surveys of 578 visitors and 337 residents of Qingdao were administered throughout May and June 2009. The image construct was conceptualized as having three dimensions: cognitive, affective and overall images. The cognitive image attributes included seafood, scenery, beaches, local people, green space, special events, ethnic attractions, weather, squares, architecture, relaxing atmosphere, resorts, hygiene and cleanliness, cultural attractions, golf course, highway system, accommodation, public transport, shopping, fashion shows, value for money, transportation cost, nightlife, football games, airline schedules, and traffic congestion. The affective image attributes included arousing-sleepy, exciting-gloomy, pleasant-unpleasant, and relaxing-distressful. Qualitative evaluation suggested greater congruence between the images projected by Qingdao government agencies and those perceived by visitors than quantitative correlation analysis. The projected images of Qingdao and images perceived by visitors were consistent in their emphases on certain image themes. However, the correlations between these two types of images suggested that the extent to which these image themes were emphasized differed. Similar results were found in the comparison between the images projected by Qingdao and those perceived by residents. Furthermore, most visitors and residents held positive images of Qingdao. Both similarities and differences were discovered in the cognitive, affective and overall images perceived by visitors and residents. Residents were generally more positive than visitors in their cognitive and affective images. It was found that sex, education, place of residence, and previous travel experience only significantly affected visitors’ images of one or two attributes, while age, occupation, primary motivation, most important information source used and number of sources used significantly influenced visitors’ images of between 5 and 8 attributes. Additionally, place attachment and importance of the 2008 Olympic Games were significantly positively correlated with most of the image attributes examined in this study, while importance of German Heritage and Qingdao International Beer Festival were significantly positively correlated with fewer attributes (8 and 6 attributes, respectively). With regard to the factors influencing resident images, it was discovered that sex, education, age, occupation, length of residence, most important source used and number of sources used significantly affected residents’ images to different degrees, ranging from 7 to 18 attributes. Furthermore, place attachment and the importance of German heritage, the 2008 Olympic Games and Qingdao International Beer Festival were significantly positively correlated with the majority of the image attributes examined in this research. This study is one of very few that compares projected and perceived images although methodological challenges for undertaking such research remain. It is also innovative in that it encompasses both tourists’ and residents’ images. Very few such studies have been undertaken in China which has a massive domestic tourism industry and is a major player in international tourism.

Vi har utfört en kvalitativ studie vars syfte är att belysa vad känslan av hem och hem som fysisk plats har för betydelse för personer som är eller har varit bostadslösa. Vi har utfört sju intervjuer med individer som passar den beskrivningen. Vår utgångspunkt har varit Nattcaféet i Halmstad som Svenska kyrkan driver för att hjälpa och ge stöd åt personer som på olika sätt är i behov av det. Det kan vara bostadslösa personer som t.ex. behöver kläder, men det kan även vara personer som är ensamma som kommer dit för att de uppskattar sällskapet. Frågeställningen vi syftade att besvara: Vilken emotionell och praktisk betydelse har känslan av hem och hemmet som fysisk plats för bostadslösa och f.d. bostadslösa personer som deltar i Nattcaféets aktiviteter i Halmstad? Det empiriska material som vi samlat in analyserade vi utifrån tre socialpsykologiska teorier: Platsanknytning (Gustafson, 2002) Stigmatisering och identitet (Goffman, 1963) och Sociala band (Scheff, 1990). Detta gjordes med hermeneutiken som vetenskapsteoretisk ansats. Med utgångspunkt i dessa socialpsykologiska teorier har vi försökt att lyfta fram betydelsen av hem för personer som under någon period har varit bostadslösa.  Vår studie visar att livet som bostadslös är både fysiskt och psykiskt betungande, och att detta kan lämna tydliga spår i individens personlighet. / We have conducted a qualitative study where the purpose is to highlight what significance the feeling of home and home as a bodily location has to people who are or have been homeless. We have conducted seven interviews with individuals who fit this description. Our starting point was the Nattcaféet in Halmstad that is run by the Swedish church to help and support people who are in need of support in different ways. This may concern homeless people, in need clothes, but it can also be people who are lonely and appreciate the company.Question we sought to answer: What emotional and practical significance does the feeling of home and the home as a bodily place have for the homeless and former homeless people that take part in Nattcaféets activities in Halmstad? The empirical data that we have collected, were analyzed from three social psychological theories: Stigma and identity (Goffman, 1963), Social bonds (Scheff, 1990) and Place Attachment (Gustafson, 2002). This was done with the hermeneutics as science theoretical approach. Based on these social psychological theories, we have tried to highlight the importance of home for people who at some point have been homeless. Our study shows that the life of a homeless person is both physically and psychologically burdensome, and that this may leave clear traces in the individual's personality.