Perceiving and representing both health and the environment: An exploratory investigation

This article describes an exploratory study that examined the percept ions of both health and environment among men and women in higher and lower stat us areas in Hamilton, Canada. Situated in the literatures on health percept ions and environmental concerns, it not only describes health and environme nt perceptions, but also explores their interconnections, arguing that conc ern for self is more salient than that for any other, including environment , and that this salience is predicated on notions of control and responsibi lity. The article concludes by speculating on reasons for these findings by suggesting an empirically derived cultural model for representation of hea lth-environment relations and the bases of information processing in this a rena.