•  
  •  
 

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Authors

Tinelle Bustam

Abstract

Over the last twenty-five years, a number of researchers have attempted to understand what makes people care about the environment or what underlies "environmental sensitivity." Early research on significant life experiences of environmental activists suggested that such appreciation began at a young age and in outdoor settings (Tanner, 1980; Peterson, 1982). Dunlap and Heffernan (1975) found a relationship between participation in nature-based recreation and environmental sensitivity. Other studies have found no relationship (Geisler, Martinson, & Wilkening, 1977) or only weak to moderate relationships between outdoor activity and environmental concern (Van Liere & Noe, 1981; Jackson, 1987; Theodori, Luloff, & Willits, 1998). More recently, Bright (in press) examined whether the "meaning" attached to outdoor recreation participation would help clarify what it is about outdoor recreation that appears to affect people's environmental sensitivity.

Share

COinS