Place attachment satisfies psychological needs in the context of environmental risk coping: experimental evidence of a link between self-determination theory and person-place relationship effects

The present paper aims to provide some empirical evidence of how the ability of places to satisfy psychological needs might be an antecedent for the creation of an affective bond with those places by using visualization techniques for place attachment manipulation and exploring the similarities between two main frames of reference in literature, place attachment literature and Self-Determination Theory (SDT). The paper has three main hypotheses: 1) showing that the basic needs hypothesized by SDTand those hypothesized by Place Attachment Literature are both affected by place features and have similar affective and behavioral outcomes; 2) showing that the ability of a place to satisfy individual’s needs is associated with the individual attachment to the place; 3) showing that the place attachment developed by the perception of needs satisfaction affects individual’s place-related behaviors. Two experimental studies were conducted manipulating place attachment toward a new evacuation site in a virtual location affected by natural hazards, with two scenario manipulations. One manipulation is realized on the basis of the needs emerged by place attachment literature taxonomies. The second manipulation aims to the same target on the basis of Self-Determination Theory. Study 1 shows that both manipulations affect psychological need satisfaction and place attachment; Study 2 shows that they also affect risk coping place-related behavior. Results confirm the three hypotheses and shed light on how psychological needs satisfaction is linked to place attachment and its practical relevance for environmental risk perception and coping in natural hazard contexts, possibly improving risk coping plans in emergency situations and, ultimately, saving lives. Moreover, these results could be applied also to other settings, like shelters or temporary settlements improving wellness conditions in these environments.