Abstract

Introduction: It is unclear how sense of place, place identity, and place attachment overlap. This study explored their convergent-divergent validity using 1) correlations between popular measures, 2) comparisons within-participant and by place preference and 3) their prediction of pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes.

Methods: Online participants (N = 212) from research participation schemes and social media self-categorized as having an urban or nature place preference and completed the Sense of Place measure referring to places consistent with this categorisation. They completed nature relatedness/place identity/place attachment measures (counter-balanced); the latter two were in the context of place preference.

Results: Moderate, positive overall correlations and subscale correlations across measures indicated divergence and that measures captured different facets of underlying constructs. Overall, sense of place and place identity were equal and higher than place attachment. Those with a nature preference reported the same pattern; urban preference participants reported equal levels in all three. After controlling for nature-relatedness, only sense of place predicted pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes.

Discussion: The findings supported construct divergence. Differences by place preference reinforced strong linkages between nature preference and higher levels of sense of place and place identity. This suggests future studies should consider place preference when measuring person-place relationships.