THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON COPING AND SATISFACTION - A STUDY OF GREAT LAKES WATER-BASED OUTDOOR RECREATIONISTS
Open Access
- Author:
- Ferguson, Michael D
- Graduate Program:
- Recreation and Parks
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 06, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Andrew J. Mowen, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Andrew J. Mowen, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Alan R. Graefe, Committee Member
B. Derrick Taff, Committee Member
A.E. Luloff, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Coping
Satisfaction
Global Climate Change
Outdoor Recreation
Environmental Conditions
Water-Based Outdoor Recreation
Water Levels
Water Quality
Lake Erie
Great Lakes
Water
Impact - Abstract:
- Numerous pervasive environmental conditions within the Lake Erie watershed have been attributed to global climate change (GCC) such as fluctuations in water levels and water quality concerns. These environmental conditions have become increasingly evident to natural resource managers. However, little is known about outdoor recreationists’ interactions with GCC induced environmental conditions, how these interactions influence visitor responses and behaviors. This study addressed this lack of knowledge by applying an adaptation of the stress-coping framework to examine the effects of GCC induced environmental conditions on water-based outdoor recreation visitors within the Pennsylvania coastal section of Lake Erie. For this study, the degradation of water level and water quality conditions were theorized to detract from the overall outdoor recreation experience. The models used in this study assessed the extent that perceptions of environmental detractors (e.g., degraded water level and water quality conditions) elicited coping responses to maintain overall satisfaction. Study findings indicated visitors predominantly recognized and were aware of environmental detractors, but did not perceive them to impact their outdoor recreation experience. However, results suggested visitors were more perceptive of, and more likely to be, impacted by water quality conditions as opposed to water level conditions. Further, this study determined that visitors employed several unique coping responses when encountering environmental detractors. These responses included: cognitive adjustments, direct actions, resource substitutions, temporal substitutions, activity substitutions, and absolute displacement. As a whole, this dissertation provided a novel approach to the study of coping responses in outdoor recreation. The ever increasing presence of GCC suggests the severity of environmental detractor impacts will continue to increase. This research provided important theoretical and managerial insight towards the dynamic processes at work as recreationists interacted with GCC induced environmental conditions.