Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-98).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1983. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-103).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Antioch University New England, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 10, 2009). "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England (2009)."--The title page. Advisor: Thomas N. Webler, Ph. D. Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-211).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Antioch University New England, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed November 11, 2009). "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England (2008)."--from the title page. Advisor: Mitchell Thomashow. Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-296).

The aim of this thesis was to examine the way individual responses to global climate change are determined by intrapersonal, social and experiential factors through three streams of research. The first stream employs cross-sectional and experimental methods to demonstrate that the influence of climate change information on behavioural intentions among two African populations is largely conveyed indirectly through perceived threat and concern. My findings support a view that a failure to account for the indirect effects of knowledge may have resulted in a systematic underestimation of its importance as a basis for environmental action. In the second stream, I sought to resolve previous inconsistencies in the evidence for a link between flooding experiences and climate change engagement. Using secondary data analysis, I found that political affiliation modulates the link between flooding experience and preparedness to engage in climate change mitigation behaviour in the UK, such that the indirect links between flooding experience and preparedness to reduce energy use, and willingness to pay higher prices for energy efficient products, was stronger among left-leaning voters. These results were followed up with four experimental studies in which flooding experience was operationalised with a mental simulation technique. The experiments were designed to examine how values and attribution may moderate the effects of flooding experiences on climate change attitudes, but they did not yield any conclusive findings. Finally, I examined the interplay between descriptive and injunctive social norms as influences of behavioural engagement with climate change using cross-sectional and experimental data. I found that social norms may influence behavioural engagement with climate change indirectly through their effects on individuals' perceptions of, and emotional responses to, the problem. However, the nature of this influence may also be dependent on the convergence of the two norm types and the level of individuals' intrinsic prioritization of pro-environmental outcomes.

As buildings age biological and non biological soiling accumulates on their facades. Soiling changes the visual appearance of buildings. This thesis investigates the aesthetic and perceptual changes which take place as a result of the accumulation of soiling. A series of experiments and surveys were conducted to investigate the effects soiling had on aesthetic and perceptual judgements of buildings. A multiple sorting procedure using photographs of buildings, revealed that both an aesthetic evaluation and soiling levels were important ways in which the buildings were conceptualised. A second study comparing photographs of architecturally similar buildings before and after stonecleaning had taken place, revealed large shifts in the evaluation of buildings following cleaning as measured by semantic differentials. Changes in evaluation were found to be dependent on the nature and outcome of the cleaning process. Buildings were also consistently perceived to be younger following cleaning. Surveys amongst residents of cities which had undergone major stonecleaning programmes revealed an awareness of this activity in line with theories of urban perception. Attitudes towards stonecleaning programmes was found to be generally favourable. A survey conducted amongst architects showed the complex range of aesthetic and perceptual effects which soiling and cleaning has on buildings. The surveys conducted amongst both the general public and architects revealed that while cleaned buildings were generally seen to be aesthetically more pleasing than heavily soiled ones, there were some situations where soiling could enhance the aesthetic appearance of buildings. A further study involving ratings of buildings which varied in terms of soiling was therefore conducted which further clarified the role of soiling in aesthetic judgements. Drawing on research in experimental and environmental aesthetics, as well as data from the reported experiments and surveys a model is proposed which relates soiling level to facade complexity and aesthetic evaluation.

The present study has identified variables which significantly distinguish between environmentally concerned and unconcerned subpopulations of different ethnic groupings in South Africa, and assimilated these variables within a new model of environmental concern. This model developed from a framework relating to attitude formation, adaptation and expression and focuses on the prediction of environmental concern as an important precursor of environmentally responsible behaviour. The model proposes that the prediction of environmental concern involves a number of variables associated with structures at different levels of experience. Subjects for the study were selected by students registered for the third-year course in Environmental Psychology at the University of South Africa in 1991 and 1992. Each student's sample consisted of four boys and four girls of 14 to 16 years of age, and four men and four women over 20 years of age from the following ethnic groups: Whites, blacks, Asians and coloured. The sample for 1991 consisted of 4475 subjects with 1954 subjects in the 1992 sample. Subjects completed the Environmental Concern Scale (ECS) developed by Weigel and Weigel (1978) and named what they consider to be the three most serious threats to the environment in order of priority. Empirical data strongly support the model's conceptualisation of the emergence of environmental concern as a dynamic composition of individual experience, factors at the personal level and factors at the socio-level, and temporal and spatial structures. With regards to the personal level factors, results from the factor analyses confirmed the existence of a passively orientated mode of environmental concern that sees others as being responsible for solving environmental problems, and a mode of personal responsibility or active concern. Results from the CHAID analyses showed conclusively that ethnic grouping, as a socio-level variable, is the single-most significant and consistent predictor of environmental concern, be it passive or active concern. As anticipated, the CHAID analyses also demonstrated that correlates of environmental concern differed across the two modes of thinking: For all ethnic groupings, respondents with higher educational qualifications consistently showed higher levels of passive concern than respondents with lower qualifications across the 1991 and 1992 data sets. Depending on ethnic grouping, place of residence, exposure to environmental education programmes and home language also played a role as interacting predictors of passive environmental concern. On the other hand, however, age group, gender and leisure-time interacted with ethnic grouping as relevant variables in the prediction of active concern. Apart from confirming the multidirectional features of the model, the data also testify to the dynamic interaction between personal and socio-level variables over time. With regard to individual subjective experience, the findings on subjects' perceptions about serious threats to the environment show that, although general pollution and air pollution remained the two most popular choices across all ethnic groupings, other distinct group differences in perception emerged. More specifically, whites, Asians and coloured respondents considered global and local problems to be serious threats, while blacks were more aware of problems which affect their daily lives. The findings serve to underscore the necessity of establishing exactly what a specific target group regard as the "environment" before any attempt is made to determine their attitudes towards environmental problems. Contrary to expectations, however, there were no significant differences between concerned and unconcerned subgroups as regards perception of serious threats, and the data of the content analysis revealed that peoples' perceptions of the most serious threats to the environment did not coincide with newspaper coverage of environmental issues in the two periods prior to the data gathering in 1991 and 1992. It should also be pointed out that the model was not as effective in accounting for the data from black samples as it was for other ethnic groupings. One of the possible reasons offered is that the key to understanding groups differences in environmental attitudes lies in the territorial range of the environmental concern being examined and the way in which environmental belief systems emerge. Directions for future research on environmental attitudes are suggested. The delineation of unconcerned groups has pinpointed those groups at whom efforts to bring about changes in orientation could be directed through awareness programmes. Concerned groups, on the other hand, could be encouraged to learn new skills and become more actively involved in identifying and resolving environmental problems and issues at all levels. The suggested way to implement this would be through environmental education. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Town centres are increasingly being marketed and managed in a strategic manner. This is an attempt to increase footfall, awareness and participation in order to create long-term economic value for all stakeholders. The research contained in this study investigates the phenomenon of place attachment, where individuals experience varying levels of attachment to specific places. This attachment is typified by emotional bonds between individuals or groups of individuals and specific places, where place is seen as unique. This uniqueness is manifested in two main dimensions, and those are attachment due to the physical characteristics of a place and attachment due to the emotions a person or group experiences by virtue of the place. Various drivers of place attachment have been identified. The prevalence of these drivers amongst the business community of Newtown was investigated in order to give marketing professionals a better understanding of how individuals become attached to places. These findings could provide marketing professionals with a better understanding of place attachment drivers in order to improve their efforts in marketing a variety of places. It is hoped that this study will also highlight areas for future research regarding the phenomenon of place attachment and the implications for marketing professionals. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

No description available.

Negativity and Hedonic Relevance are examined as factors potentially influencing attributions associated with changes in the built environment. Ninety-nine male and female university students participated on a "survey" testing the extension of previous research identifying these variables as biasing perceivers toward asserting "person" as opposed to "situational" causation. As predicted, increased negativity resulted in significantly more inferences of negative dispositions to only implicitly involved actors. A significant interaction effect was also identified between negativity and gender, with males making more attributions of causality (blame) in response to a more negative event, as predicted for all subjects, and females making less. No new evidence for the role of Hedonic Relevance was identified due to failure of the associated manipulation. A greater focus on gender differences in future attribution research is recommended, as is a greater awareness among architects and planners of the psychological processes underlying the experience of environmental change.