Defining place attachment: A tripartite organizing framework

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Abstract

Place attachment has been researched quite broadly, and so has been defined in a variety of ways. The various definitions of the concept are reviewed and synthesized into a three-dimensional, person–process–place organizing framework. The person dimension of place attachment refers to its individually or collectively determined meanings. The psychological dimension includes the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of attachment. The place dimension emphasizes the place characteristics of attachment, including spatial level, specificity, and the prominence of social or physical elements. In addition, potential functions of place attachment are reviewed. The framework organizes related place attachment concepts and thus clarifies the term. The framework may also be used to stimulate new research, investigate multidimensionality, create operational definitions for quantitative studies, guide semi-structured interviews for qualitative studies, and assist in conflict resolution for successful land-use management.

Section snippets

Understanding place attachment: a tripartite organizing framework

We propose a three-dimensional framework of place attachment that usefully structures the varied definitions in the literature. This framework proposes that place attachment is a multidimensional concept with person, psychological process, and place dimensions (see Fig. 1). The first dimension is the actor: who is attached? To what extent is the attachment based on individually and collectively held meanings? The second dimension is the psychological process: how are affect, cognition, and

The person dimension: individual and collective place attachment

Place attachment occurs at both the individual and group levels, and although definitions of the term tend to emphasize one over the other, the two may overlap. At the individual level, it involves the personal connections one has to a place. For example, place attachment is stronger for settings that evoke personal memories, and this type of place attachment is thought to contribute to a stable sense of self (Twigger-Ross & Uzzell, 1996). Similarly, places become meaningful from personally

The psychological process dimension of place attachment

The second dimension of place attachment concerns the way that individuals and groups relate to a place, and the nature of the psychological interactions that occur in the environments that are important to them. The three psychological aspects of place attachment or, according to some authors, sense of place, (e.g., Jorgensen & Stedman, 2001) typically highlighted in its various theoretical and operational definitions are affect, cognition, and behavior. Some definitions include all three of

The place dimension of place attachment

Perhaps the most important dimension of place attachment is the place itself. What is it about the place to which we connect? This dimension has been examined at various geographic scales (e.g., a room in a house, a city, or the world; Cuba and Hummon, 1993, Low and Altman, 1992), and has typically been divided into two levels: social and physical place attachment (e.g., Riger & Lavrakas, 1981). Hidalgo and Hernández (2001) measured the social and physical levels of place attachment at three

The functions of place attachment

According to our person–process–place (PPP) framework, place attachment is a bond between an individual or group and a place that can vary in terms of spatial level, degree of specificity, and social or physical features of the place, and is manifested through affective, cognitive, and behavioral psychological processes. However, the question of why people develop such enduring psychological bonds with place remains. Most likely, place attachment bonds exist because they serve several

Testing the multidimensionality of place attachment

The PPP framework assumes that the dimensions and levels of place attachment may overlap, but may also be separable. Therefore, validation of the framework will require evidence that the components of place attachment are as proposed. One approach would be to develop a place attachment measurement instrument, and explore the factors that emerge. Another would be to demonstrate place attachment's multidimensionality by showing that its effects differ depending on the type or level of the

PPP in relation to other frameworks

The PPP framework structures the plethora of place attachment definitions into a simple, three-dimensional framework. Previous frameworks and models have also attempted to define place attachment, but these definitions are limited. For instance, Fullilove's (1996) conceptualization is exclusive to the psychological process dimension. Woldoff (2002) and Hunter's (1978) models depict place attachment as a mainly social phenomenon, in which place facilitates social ties, and is expressed through

Uses of the PPP framework

The proposed person–process–place framework of place attachment builds upon previous frameworks and models by incorporating classic and recent empirical findings from a variety of theoretical perspectives. It thus serves as a portrait of place attachment research to date. As Blalock (1969) advised, the first step toward construction of testable theories is to scrutinize the current literature, identify key variables, and, when there are many, reduce them into an organized classification system.

Conclusion

This review of the various definitions of person–place bonding organizes them into a clear three-dimensional framework. This synthesis of the place attachment construct can be used in theoretical explorations and in practical domains. This is not to say that all levels of the place attachment concept must be examined in each study, but that definitions of place attachment should be specified according to their relative emphasis within each of the person, process, and place dimensions. Future

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Frederick Grouzet for his helpful feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their informed comments and insightful suggestions.

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