Perceptions of local environment change and ecological habitus

ABSTRACT Research shows that people’s perceptions of environmental change are strong predictors of ecologically supportive behaviours and attitudes, but less is known about what causes some people to perceive environmental change more than others. This study considers whether participation in outdoor leisure activities accounts for different perceptions of the local environment. We consider how leisure activities form a broader ‘ecological habitus’ while also considering the role that education has in structuring perceptions and practice. We use survey data on perceptions of environmental change and use Principal Component Analysis and logistic regression to explore ecological habitus and the effect of leisure activities on environmental perceptions. Results show that outdoor leisure practices shape perceptions of local environment change and offer a continuum of ecological habitus ranging from appreciative to low resource outdoor leisure associated with varied perceptions of environment degradation. Education is a limited factor in predicting perceptions or explaining associations between leisure and environmental perceptions.