Patterns of Environmental Preference

Abstract

The Environmental Preference Questionnaire (EPQ) was developed to assess patterns of satisfaction and preference pertaining to various environmental settings; its focus is not so much on past experience as on current outlook. The 267 teenagers who completed the EPQ in this study also responded to questions relating to facets of self-esteem and reasons for selecting their favorite activities. The Nature and Suburbs scales of the EPQ provided complementary patterns of esteem and motivation dimensions; the interaction of environmental settings and various kinds of contacts with peers and friends was another theme that ran through the pattern of results. The findings give credence to the notion that environmental preferences can be partitioned into a manageable number of meaningful dimensions. They further hold promise for a useful partitioning of the domain of self-esteem, an area which has traditionally been dominated by global or unitary measures and concepts.