Outdoor Recreation and the Predictive Validity of Environmental Attitudes

The utility of the attitude concept in outdoor-recreation research rests upon its predictive validity, that is, an ability to predict subsequent behavior (at either the general or specific level). This study examines the moderating and mediating effects of participation in three types of outdoor recreation activities (appreciative, consumptive, and motorized) on environmental attitude-behavior correspondence. A mediating effect occurs if participation accounts for the relation between attitude and behavior. A moderating effect occurs if the attitude-behavior relationship changes as a function of participation. Respondents (n1220) to a telephone interview of households in the Southern Appalachian region of the Southeast United States were asked about their participation in a selection of outdoor recreation activities and their environmental behaviors and were randomly assigned to one of five general environmental attitude scales. Results support a significant mediating effect for appreciative outdoor activities only. No consistent moderating effects were found. Findings are interpreted within the context of attitude accessibility, and implications for generating proenvironmental behaviors are provided.