Use and perception of the environment: cultural and developmental processes

Abstract

This paper presents a "social systems" orientation for integrating the diverse aspects of environment, culture, and individual behavior. It suggests that a wide range of variables, including the physical environment, cultural and social processes, environmental perceptions and cognitions, behavior, and products of behavior, are connected in a complex, interacting system. Attention is paid to cultural factors that affect the way in which the environment is perceived, used, and modified. A broad variety of topics are touched upon, including ecological factors that affect the functional adaptation of a culture to its environment, how cultural world views shape and are shaped by that adaptation, and how environmentally oriented behavior processes like privacy regulation, territoriality, and personal space operate in this milieu. The authors stress the need for scientists to provide useful information for environmental practitioners, be they architects, urban planners, or the Forest Service. Finally, discussion is given to the role that cultural diversity in the United States must play in our environmental planning for the future.

Parent Publication

• Children, nature, and the urban environment: proceedings of a symposium-fair

Citation

Chemers, Martin M.; Altman, Irwin. 1977. Use and perception of the environment: cultural and developmental processes. In: Children, Nature, and the Urban Environment: Proceedings of a Symposium-Fair; Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-30. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 42-53