ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION



Recreational Behavior

in a Barrier Island Park

by Enid L. Lotstein

Dissertation Director:  Professor Susan L. Cutter



Barrier island parks in the eastern and southern United States were established to preserve these areas in their natural state, and to provide public access.  By understanding the factors determining recreational behavior

in barrier island parks, it is possible to determine how the parks are used and whether these uses are compatible with preservation.  I tested the applicability of the Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein and Ajzen) in explaining recreational behavior in barrier island parks.

The Theory is based in social psychology, emphasizes behavior, attitudinal and social context and does not account for the geographical or environmental context in which the behavior takes place.  I hypothesize that the variables within the Theory are inadequate alone and that an explanation must also include the recreationists' perceptions of the physical and recreational environment and their past experience in the park.  I further sought to determine whether recreational behavior in coastal wilderness areas differs from behavior in remote interior wilderness areas.  I administered the study in an intensively used two-mile-long segment of the Fire Island National Seashore Wilderness Area, located on the south shore of suburban Long Island, New York, by conducting 196 face-to-face interviews.  Results from univariate and multivariate analyses support the hypothesis.

As components within the Theory of Reasoned Action, attitude (beliefs about consequences of behavior and evaluation of consequences) is a more important indicator of behavioral intention than subjective norm (perceptions of others' approval of behavior and motivation to comply).  The meaningful contextual variables (outside the Theory) are recreationists' perceptions of park locations.  The importance of attitude and perception of location is attributable to past experience of respondents with respect to park environmental characteristics.  This barrier island wilderness is distinct for recreation because of negative attitudes towards poison ivy, ticks and mosquitoes that influence the seasons for use.  Subjective norm is a stronger individual indicator of recreational behavior than attitude which implies that people using the park inhibit individual recreational behavior.  Locations perceived by respondents as less crowded may be more suitable for wilderness recreation because they are perceived as freer from social constraints.