A macro-micro study of ecological orientations in residential locational choice: downtown residence versus suburban residence

Abstract

<p>The focus of this work is the development of a theory and paradigm integrating aspects of individuals' sociocultural environment, the macro perspective, with traits and social psychological patterns of their individual environment, the micro perspective, into a relationship that allows common patterns of behavior to be discerned and prediction of human action made. The research component addresses individuals' relationship to their residential environment;The residential locational choice paradigm and theory is multi-disciplinarian, incorporating knowledge and theory from the areas of sociology, psychology, human ecology, environment and behavior, and urban planning. The functionalist concept that the world presents fundamental properties which can be isolated and studied in a classificatory scheme provides a foundation. The theory further assumes the 'neodeterministic' perspective, in that individuals make choices within the constraints of their daily lives as they seek to meet personal 'need-states.' Finally, it assumes individuals will obtain identity, or a perceived picture of the self, through interaction with others within the situations in which they place themselves. The paradigm defines individuals' dominant action/interaction patterns with their environment in terms of four ecological orientations--instrumental, territorial, sentimental, and symbolic--developed from the previous human ecology work of Erik Cohen. Interaction/identity patterns are developed through incorporation of middle range social psychological theories that provide understanding and knowledge about the diversity and similarity in individual behavior;Subjects in the empirical component of the study were residents of three apartment complexes in a midwestern city. Analysis of the two-step model first employed the theoretical application of nineteen predictor variables to define the four ecological orientations, then utilized discriminant analysis to test the ability of the orientations to predict residential location. A test of satisfaction with the present living environment was also included. The discriminant function of the micro variables accounted for 26 percent of the variance in the dependent macro variable, residential location. It also shows a conceptually significant theoretical linkage across societal and individual levels of analysis.</p>