THE EFFECTS OF FREQUENCY AND EXPERIENCE ON PLACE ATTACHMENT DURING INDEPENDENT NATURE-BASED LEISURE EVENTS Gordon J. Walker, University of Alberta

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1 THE EFFECTS OF FREQUENCY AND EXPERIENCE ON PLACE ATTACHMENT DURING INDEPENDENT NATURE-BASED LEISURE EVENTS Gordon J. Walker, University of Alberta Over the past decade, place attachment -- that is, the thoughts, feelings, and meanings a person associates with a specific space -- has become an increasingly important area of social science research in general, and of naturebased leisure in particular (Virden & Walker, 1999). Because nature-based leisure events can take various forms (Cordell, Bergstrom, Hartmann, & English, 1990), including owning a cabin or cottage, participating in a professionally-guided adventure trip, or engaging in a short or long duration independent (i.e., self-organized and self-guided) excursion, place attachment studies have also had to vary accordingly (e.g., Jorgensen & Stedman, 2001; Walker & Fox, 2001; Bricker & Kerstetter, 2000; respectively). To date, however, it does not appear that any study regardless of the type of nature-based leisure event being researched has examined how frequency of visitation and the type and quantity of experience jointly affects place attachment; even though the effect of the former has been empirically supported (Williams, Patterson, Roggenbuck, & Watson, 1992) while the effect of the latter has long been suggested (Relph, 1976). Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine how these two variables, in combination, affect an independent outdoor recreationist's attachment to a place. Method Place attachment was measured using two items based on Williams' (2000) scales: "My life is so deeply connected with this place I would rather not go anywhere else" and "The place I visited here are like old friends; it is important to me that I visit them again and again." A third item was dropped due to low inter-item correlations and a deleterious effect on the place attachment scale's Cronbach coefficient alpha. Responses were examined using a five-point scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Experiences were measured by asking study respondents how much of each experience item they had gotten up until the time they were approached (1 = not at all, 3 = somewhat, and 5 = a lot). A total of 31 items were included, with approximately one half being from Driver's Recreation Experience Preference Scale inventory (Manfredo, Driver, & Tarrant, 1996), while the other half were specifically created because of perceived inadequacies in the above scales (Walker, Hull, & Roggenbuck, 1998). These measures were part of a four-page questionnaire distributed at a mid-atlantic USDA Forest Service National Recreation Area (NRA). A convenience sample was identified which tried to include a wide variety of independent outdoor recreationists (e.g., hunters, horseback riders, backpackers, mountain bikers). Of the 458 people approached, 410 (90%) agreed to participate in the study. Results The average age of respondents was 37 years, with 73% being male and 27% being female. Over 75% of the sample had attended college or university (26% having done so for one, two, or three years; 27% having done so for four years; and 26% having done so for five or more years). Of the six income categories, the smallest percentage (10%) made under $10,000 per year, while the largest percentage (27%) made $25,000 to $39,000 per year. The sample was subsequently divided into three groups based on the number of times they had visited the NRA. Of the 410 participants, 140 were visiting for the first time, 109 were visiting for their second, third, or fourth time, and 123 were visiting for at least their fifth time (non-respondents to this item were excluded from further analysis). After the 31 experience items were factor analysed using varimax rotation, seven factors provided the most interpretable solution (Hair et al., 1998). Although some items were subsequently dropped after the inter-item correlations and Cronbach coefficient alphas were examined, seven experience scales were retained, including: (a) introspection (e.g., "Thinking about my life and personal values"); (b) goal achievement (e.g., "Being able to achieve my goals"); (c) absorption (e.g., "Becoming so absorbed in my experience that I lose track of everything around me"); (d) meeting people; (e) scenery/tranquillity; (f) taking risks/being creativity; and (g) social interdependence. The result of a one-way ANOVA conducted on the place attachment scale using frequency of visitation as the independent variable was significant (p <.0001), with a follow-up Tukey's test indicating that first time visitors reported significantly lower levels of place attachment (M = 2.54; SD = 0.93) than second, third, or fourth time visitors (M = 2.91; SD = 0.87), who had significantly lower levels of attachment than those who were visiting for at least the fifth time (M = 3.54; SD = 0.90). The result of a one-way MANOVA performed on the seven experience scales using frequency of visitation as the independent variable was also significant (p <.05). A series of follow-up ANOVAs indicated that only the goal achievement experience was significant at p <.05, however, because a Bonferroni-technique was used to control for Type I error, this scale did not reach significance at the selected/? <.0071 level. Three separate stepwise regression analyses -- one for each frequency of visitation level -- were conducted using the seven experience scales as independent variables and place attachment as the dependent variable. For first time visitors, two experiences were found to positively affect place attachment (intercept B = 0.58; p <.05): (a) goal achievement (B = 0.33; p <.0001; partial R 2 =.24) and absorption (B = 0.25; p <.001; partial R 2 =.07). For second,

2 third, and fourth time visitors, two experiences were found to positively affect place attachment (intercept B = 0.91; p <.05): (a) introspection (B = 0.33; p <.0001; partial R 2 =.20) and (b) goal achievement (B = 0.20; p <.05; partial R 2 =.04). Finally, for those who had visited five or more times, four experiences were found to affect place attachment (intercept B = 1.90; p <.0001): (a) introspection (B = 0.21; p <.0001; partial R 2 =.15); (b) scenery/tranquillity (p = 0.22; p <.05; partial R 2 =.03); (c) meeting people (B = 0.11; p <.10; partial R 2 =.03); and (d) taking risks/being creative (B = -0.15; p <.15; partial R 2 =.02). Two points are worth noting concerning the analyses: first, the default significance level of p <.15 was used for the stepwise regressions as recommended by SAS (1988); and second, all of the experience scale coefficients were positive except for the taking risks/being creative experience scale's negative coefficient. Discussion As the above results indicate, by knowing how often an independent outdoor recreationist has visited a space previously, as well as the type and quantity of experience he or she is having currently, considerable insight can be obtained in terms of how place attached he or she is. Not surprisingly, this finding is most applicable to first time visitors who are the least likely to have developed feelings for, thoughts about, or meanings toward a place. In the case of these individuals, based on the finding that goal achievement and, to a lesser extent, absorption were significant predictors, it appears that a temporally antecedent version of "Been There, Done That" - that is, "Am Here, Doing This (AHDT)" -- may be involved in the development of place attachment. Moreover, the more AHDT a first time visitor experiences, the more place attached he or she reports being. In addition, based on Cohen's (1977) criteria for multiple regression analysis, the resulting f 2 of.46 indicates that this result should be considered to be a large effect size (i.e., f2 equal to or greater than.35). Although AHDT remains relevant for second, third, and fourth time visitors, its effect seems to lessen as introspection becomes the key predictor for place attachment. Once again, the more an outdoor recreationist reports having these two experiences, the more attached he or she is to the place; with the resulting f 2 of.32 indicating a medium effect size (i.e., f 2 equal to or greater than.15; Cohen) for this regression. Similarly, for those who visited five or more times, the more introspection an outdoor recreationist reports experiencing, the more place attached he or she is. In this case, however, three other experiences -scenery/tranquillity, meeting people, and taking risks/being creative - also affect place attachment, albeit to a much lesser extent than introspection (and the last experience, it should be noted, has a negative effect on attachment). Finally, as with the second regression, a medium effect size was once again found (an f2 of.29 in this case). In conclusion, although exploratory in nature, this study suggests that by knowing how often an independent outdoor recreationist has visited a space previously, as well as the type and quantity of experience he or she is having currently, leisure researchers, park planners and managers, and natural resource agencies may be better able to understand how attachment to a place both develops and changes. Further research is necessary, however, including replication and expansion that includes measuring place attachment sub-dimensions (e.g., place identity and place dependence), and that involves other types of independent outdoor recreationists (e.g., climbers, canoeists), and other kinds of nature-based leisure events (e.g., cottage trips, professionally-guided adventure excursions). References Bricker, K., & Kerstetter, D. (2000). Level of specialization and place attachment: An exploratory study of Whitewater recreationists. Leisure Sciences, 22, Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (revised ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Cordell, K., Bergstrom, J., Hartmann, L., & English, D. (1990). An analysis of the outdoor recreation and wilderness situation in the United States USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-189, Fort Collins, CO. Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., & Black, W. (1998). Multivariate data analysis (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Jorgensen, B., & Stedman, R. (2001). Sense of place as an attitude: Lakeshore owners attitudes toward their properties. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, Manfredo, M. J., Driver, B. L., & Tarrant, M. A. (1996). Measuring leisure motivation: A meta-analysis of the Recreation Experience Preference scales. Journal of Leisure Research, 28, Relph, E. (1976). Place and placelessness. London: Pion Ltd. SAS. (1988). SAS/STAT User's Guide Release 6.03 Edition. Gary, NC: SAS Institute. Virden, R. J., & Walker, G. J. (1999). Ethnic/racial and gender variation among meanings given to, and preferences for, the natural environment. Leisure Sciences, 21, Walker, G. J., & Fox, K. (2001). Place, meaning, and river guides: A case study. Manuscript submitted for publication. Walker, G. J., Hull, R. B., & Roggenbuck, J. W. (1998). On-site optimal experiences and off-site benefits. Journal of Leisure Research, 30, Williams, D. (2000, September). Notes on measuring recreational place attachment. Retrieved January 2, 2002,

3 from U.S.D.A. Forest Service Web Site: Williams, D., Patterson, M., Roggenbuck, J., & Watson, A. (1992). Beyond the commodity metaphor: Examining emotional and symbolic attachment to place. Leisure Sciences, 14, G.J. Walker, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H9, Canada; Phone: (780) ;

4 ABSTRACTS of Papers Presented at the Tenth Canadian Congress on Leisure Research May 22-25,2002 Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Abstracts compiled and edited by Edgar L. Jackson CCLR-10 Programme Committee Karen Fox Ed Jackson Gordon Walker Copyright 2002 Canadian Association for

5 The Canadian Congress on Leisure Research is held under the auspices of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies Le congres canadien de la recherche en loisir Se tient sous les auspices de L'association canadienne d'etudes en loisir BOARD OF DIRECTORS / CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION President / President Susan Markham-Starr Acadia University Treasurer / Tresorier Robert Soubrier Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres Past President / President-sortant Edgar L. Jackson University of Alberta Secretary / Secretaire Linda Caldwell Pennsylvania State University Directors / Directeurs Wendy Frisby, University of British Columbia Tom Hinch, University of Alberta Peggy Hutchison, Brock University Jennifer Mactavish, University of Manitoba Lisa Ostiguy, Concordia University Stephane Perrault, Universite du Quebec d Trois-Rivieres Jerry Singleton, Dalhousie University Bryan Smale, University of Waterloo Paul Wilkinson, York University