What are the connections between an individual's satisfaction with his or her neighborhood and the processes of identifying with the location? A path model was tested in which the length of residence promotes the identification processes, which are in turn likely to influence the degree of satisfaction with the residential environment. The components of residential satisfaction were also isolated to show that all the components of satisfaction are not equally affected by identification. A survey was taken with a sampling of 257 participants all residing in an urban environment in three major French cities. A scale of residential satisfaction and a scale of place identification were used. The tested model shows a good fit with the data. Furthermore, the results show that an individual's sense of identification with his or her neighborhood interacts primarily with the social aspects of satisfaction.

Connectedness to nature represents the relationship of the self with the natural environment and has been operationalized using different scales. One of the most systematically studied in the Anglo-Saxon context is the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS). In an attempt to study the psychometric properties of this instrument in a French-speaking context, three studies (Study 1 n = 204, Study 2 n = 153, and Study 3 n = 322) were carried out in France to provide evidence of the internal consistency of the CNS, as well as its convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Moreover, as anticipated, positive correlations between the CNS and the environmental identity and environmental concerns scales were observed. Based on factorial analyses of maximum likelihood and reliability, an improvement in the psychometric properties was identified by eliminating three items. Through confirmatory factor analysis, the factorial structure and the psychometric properties of the CNS French version were confirmed, as well as their significate regression prediction on eudaimonic wellbeing.

Inhabitants of coastal areas are constantly confronted with minor or major events such as storms, erosion or flooding. This article investigates the predictors of coping willingness among citizens exposed to coastal flooding. Coping can be defined as a set of cognitive and behavioral efforts to master, reduce or tolerate a given risk and these strategies are generally regrouped into two different categories: active coping strategies oriented toward the risk to reduce or master it, and passive coping strategies focused on the reduction of internal tensions such as anxiety or fear. In this paper, we focus especially on how place identity, perceived self-efficacy, anxiety-state and coastal flooding risk perception shape both active and passive coping willingness. Data were obtained from different areas at risk of coastal flooding located in France. The sample is composed of 315 adult participants (mean age = 47; SD = 15). Two competing models were tested using path modeling. We expected a direct relation between risk perception and the willingness to cope actively and that a higher perceived self-efficacy would increase active coping willingness. Concerning passive coping strategies, we expected that a higher anxiety-state increases passive coping willingness, and that place identity would act as a mediator and increases the relation between anxiety-state and passive coping willingness. Results suggest that place identity increased when the living place is threatened and that the use of passive coping strategies also increased. Also, we demonstrated a direct relation between risk perception and active coping willingness but it appeared that self-efficacy has no effect on this relation. Model fit indices suggest the good fit of our model and Bayesian model comparison reveals a very strong evidence of the best fit of this model compared to its saturated and independent equivalents.

Studies on place identity show positive relationships between the evaluation of a place and mechanisms involved in place identification. However, individuals also identify with places of low social prestige (places that bear a negative social image). Few authors investigate the nature of place identity processes in this case. The goal of this study is to highlight the specific connections between the three components of place identification, place attachment, place dependence, and group identity, which depend on the social evaluation of the environmental context (negative vs. positive image). The author uses self-administered questionnaires to interview 542 high-school students, to collect data on the basis of these three dimensions of their high school place identity, and their evaluation of their high school’s image. Results show positive relationships between the students’ evaluation of his or her high-school’s image and his or her place identity. However, findings show that some students reported strong place identification even though they had rated their high school as having low social prestige (negative image). Findings also show that such place identification occurred through strong attachment ties, which were a strong influence.

This research addressed environmental risk perception depending on the target evaluated and on the category of hazard (technological and chemical hazards, climate change, loss of biodiversity). Correlations between environmental risk assessment and pro-environmental behavioural intentions were also tested. In a sample of 113 French adults, 15 different environmental risks were evaluated for four different risk targets (oneself, the inhabitants of the town, the inhabitants of the country, and humanity). As expected, environmental hazards were perceived as a greater risk for larger areas. Moreover, risks difficult to conceptualise, which contain both high uncertainty and long-term consequences (climate change, loss of biodiversity) are perceived as less risk to oneself and to the inhabitants of the town and the country of residence than more concrete and immediate risks (technological and chemical). Only the technological and chemical hazards significantly predict pro-environmental behavioural intentions.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract