RESTORATIVE QUALITIES OF FAVORITE PLACES

Theory and research dealing with place identity and restorative enviro nments have for the most part proceeded independently. Assuming that e motional- and self-regulation are processes underlying the development of place identity, and that a person's favorite place is an exemplar of environments used in such regulation processes, the present study g oes beyond preliminary observations about restorative aspects of favor ite places to consider how individuals evaluate their favorite places using terms set out in restorative environments theory. Finnish univer sity students (n=78) evaluated the central square of their city (Tampe re) and favorite and unpleasant places of their own designation using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), an instrument based on atte ntion restoration theory. Consistent with notions of self-regulation, PRS subscale scores for Being Away, Fascination, Coherence, and Compat ibility were all high in the favorite place evaluations, but Coherence and Compatibility were reliably higher than Being Away, which was in turn reliably higher than Fascination. Also, PRS subscale scores for t he favorite places were reliably higher than those for the central squ are, which were in turn higher than those for the unpleasant places. F urthermore, differences were also found in self-reported emotional sta tes associated with each place. The discussion suggests ways to develo p further mutually reinforcing relations between restorative environme nts research and research on place identity.