Place Attachment Scale

What it measures

Measures emotional and functional bonds with specific destinations: Place Identity (symbolic importance to personal identity) and Place Dependence (functional importance for desired activities). Place attachment predicts destination loyalty, resident acceptance of tourism, and willingness to protect the destination.

Response format

Likert (1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

Place Identity — the place as part of one's self-concept (Likert 1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

• This place is very special to me.
• I identify strongly with [destination/place].
• [Destination/place] is a part of who I am.
• I feel that [destination/place] is a part of me.
• I am very attached to [destination/place].
• Visiting [destination/place] says a lot about who I am.

Place Dependence — functional importance of the place for desired activities

• [Destination/place] is the best place for what I like to do.
• No other place can compare to [destination/place] for the things I like to do.
• [Destination/place] offers the best conditions for the activities I enjoy.
• Doing my favourite activities at [destination/place] is more important than doing them elsewhere.
• The things I do at [destination/place] are better than what I could do at a similar place.
• I get more satisfaction from visiting [destination/place] than from visiting other places.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Two subscale scores. Strong place attachment predicts willingness to pay for destination preservation and opposition to overdevelopment. Widely used in overtourism and sustainable destination management research.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Williams, D.R., & Vaske, J.J. (2003). The measurement of place attachment: Validity and generalizability of a psychometric approach. Forest Science, 49(6), 830–840.

Keywords