Place Familiarity as a Predictor of Positive Place Sentiment: Understanding Contextual and Individual-Level Determinants

• In Event: Communities and Place: Exploring Perceptions and Experiences of Place (PEP) With Emerging Forms of Data

Abstract

A well-developed literature – focused mostly on residential neighborhood contexts – has established the positive association between place familiarity and favorable place sentiments. Yet, several theoretical perspectives call into question whether place familiarity inevitably promotes a sense of comfort, trust, and attachment. Drawing on unique ecological momentary assessment data capturing in situ familiarity and comfort with visited everyday locations from the Perceptions and Experiences of Place (PEP) study, we consider three questions: 1) To what extent does the association between place familiarity and comfort vary across individuals and everyday visited locations ? 2) Is the positive association between place familiarity and comfort attenuated in higher crime locations? 3) Do economically disadvantaged and minoritized individuals exhibit a weaker association between place familiarity and comfort when spending time in economically advantaged or White-dominated locations? We discuss the implications of these findings for the emergence of place-based social organizational features such as collective efficacy.

Authors

• Christopher R. Browning, Ohio State University

• Rebecca Wickes, Griffith University

• Danielle Reynald, Griffith University

• Chloe Keel, Griffith University

• Ying Lu, University of Queensland

• Jonathan Corcoran, University of Queensland