Ecocentric Attitude Research Articles

Effect of environmental attitude on environmentally responsible behavior: a comparative analysis among green and non-green hotel guests in Turkiye

PurposeEnvironmentally Responsible Behavior (ERB) refers to actions and practices aimed at minimizing negative environmental impact through conservation, waste reduction and sustainable practices driven by concern for environmental well-being. This study aims to explain the effect of environmental attitudes of hotel guests visiting green and non-green hotels on their ERB. In the research, hotels with different concepts were handled separately and a comparative analysis was made between both customer types.Design/methodology/approachThe study was assessed using two separate models: one for green hotel guests and another for non-green hotel guests. Data were collected from 205 participants from green hotel guests in Turkiye and 206 participants from hotel guests visiting non-green hotels in Turkiye, using a survey form with a convenience sampling method. The hypotheses were analyzed with the structural equation model and multi-group analysis (MGA) in the Smart PLS statistical program.FindingsThe ecocentric attitude positively affects political and community activism but does not impact recycling, educational behavior, green consumerism or overall ERB. The technocentric attitude negatively influences recycling, educational behavior, green consumerism, community activism and ERB but does not negatively affect political activism. The dualcentric attitude positively impacts all ERB sub-dimensions. The multi-group analysis (MGA) revealed that dualcentric attitudes have a stronger influence on green consumerism, political activism and recycling behavior among green hotel guests compared to non-green hotel guests.Practical implicationsThese findings directly impact hotel managers, underscoring the strategic significance of adopting and advocating green practices. Implementing environmentally friendly initiatives not only appeals to environmentally conscious consumers but also holds the potential to cultivate ERB among all guests. By integrating sustainability into marketing strategies, hotels can communicate their commitment to environmental stewardship, positively influencing guests’ environmental attitudes and behaviors.Originality/valueThe paper’s key contribution is its comparative analysis of ERB between guests at green and non-green hotels. It reveals how tourists’ environmental attitudes influence their hotel choices and behaviors, offering insights into sustainable tourism. Additionally, it explores the differences between ecocentric, technocentric and dualcentric attitudes, enhancing our understanding of how varying environmental concerns shape tourists’ behaviors and choices and contributing to the broader discussion on environmental psychology in tourism.

Slovakia and its environmental transformation: measuring environmental attitudes using the new ecological paradigm.

Many scientists have studied the relationship between society and the environment. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) has been repeatedly used for the analysis of public environmental attitudes, as the public pays increased attention to the environmental issues, sustainability, or the climate crisis. Our paper deals with the use of the NEP to study and identify public environmental attitudes in the Slovak Republic. We discovered a deviation of our results from the NEP, as we identified altered environmental attitudes, which we find acceptable, as environmental attitudes are a delicate set of values encompassing different, yet interrelated facets. According to our results, we were able to classify our respondents into those with technocentric, ecocentric, and resiliocentric attitudes, while up to 70% of respondents hold the ecocentric attitude. These findings could be influenced by the fact that no significant changes in the population's lifestyle have been required up to now. The NEP has proven to be an important predictive tool in assessing public environmental attitudes to determine readiness for environmental transformation. Nevertheless, we recommend using a combination of analysis that includes evaluating the impact of demographic factors to achieve higher-quality results.

Exploring Environmental Ethics: From Exclusion of More-than-Human Beings Towards a New Materialist Paradigm

Environmental ethics deals with discussing the ethical framework of environmental values, their organization and regulation, and their ethical premises. One of the main cul-de-sacs that environmental ethics has is its anthropocentrism that can be observed through its diverse ethical approaches—even ecocentric ones, developed as non-anthropocentric egalitarian alternatives. This article aims to question the exclusiveness of Anthropos, the practices, values, and discourses that determine the scope and course of environmental ethics, and the exclusion of nonhuman animals or more-than human beings from its focus. It first examines the main approaches in environmental ethics (land ethic, deep ecology, social ecology, and postmodern environmental ethics)—biocentric, ecocentric, anthropocentric, socialist, postmodern—and reveals that they are but limited to the human perspective, deeply rooted in human exceptionalism. All of these approaches provide us with a critical frame that still needs to be deconstructed so that they will not project an anthropocentric orientation. This article posits that the compass of environmental ethics, recently aligning itself to embrace the more-than-human world in its ecocentric attitude, still needs to be revisited for its discourses of exclusion. At this point, new materialism functions as a prolific theoretical site as it diminishes the classical boundaries between human and animal or subject and object that anthropocentric environmental ethics relies on. With such concepts as “agential realism” (Barad), “transcorporeal ethics” (Alaimo), “vibrant matter” (Bennett), or “storied matter” (Oppermann and Iovino) the new materialist view of the human and the nonhuman evolves to end set dualities in the discourses of environmental ethics. This article concludes that the new materialist theory destabilizes any anthropocentric position in environmental ethics and includes more-than-human beings in its ethical focus, discarding any dualities that serve anthropocentrism or human exceptionalism.

Towards more sustainable animal-feed alternatives: A survey on Spanish consumers' willingness to consume animal products fed with insects

Global meat consumption will continue to increase in response to the growth in population and demand. Numerous studies have emphasized the nutritional, economic, and environmental benefits of using insect meal as an alternative protein source for animal feed. This article analyses Spanish consumers' willingness to consume pork, chicken, eggs, and fish, and explores the effect of sociodemographic and psychometric characteristics on their willingness to consume when the animals are fed with insect protein as a sustainable feed alternative. The study used an online Spanish consumers' panel belonging to Qualtrics© (market company services) and distributed it to 1260 individuals stratified by age, gender, and region. The data were analysed using the non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. Overall, the results demonstrated that most Spanish consumers expressed high uncertainty regarding their willingness to consume animal-fed insect meals. They also exhibited moderate levels of food neophobia and showed a highly ecocentric attitude. The non-parametric comparison analysis confirmed significant differences in willingness to consume sustainable animal products across sociodemographic characteristics: financial situation and gender were significant variables, with females more willing to consume sustainable animal products than males. For the psychometric traits, significant differences in willingness to consume sustainable animal products were confirmed across food neophobia, food neophilia, opinions on using insects in animal feed, and ecocentric attitude. The results also confirmed a significant difference in the effects of sociodemographic variables on psychometric attributes. Financial situation affects food neophilia, anthropocentric attitudes, and opinions on the use of insects in animal feed. Age influences food neophobia, ecocentric attitudes, and opinions on the use of insects in animal feed. Education also influences food neophilia, ecocentric attitudes, and opinions on the use of insects in animal feed. For gender, it is observed that females are more neophobic than males. This study has provided comprehensive initial insights into consumer willingness to consume insect-fed animal products in Spain, and the findings from this study will serve as a valuable resource for producers, policymakers, and governments in making informed decisions that promote more sustainable production practices.

Understanding Jhum (shifting cultivation) farmers' place‐attachment and ecocentric attitude: Towards a place‐based approach for sustainable mountain agriculture in Nagaland, India

AbstractPlace attachment and ecocentric attitude are the important determinants of conservation behaviour, especially for traditionally managed landscapes. In this paper, we explore the relationship between place attachment and the ecocentric attitude of farmers engaged in Jhum cultivation (shifting cultivation or slash‐and‐burn cultivation) in the Zunheboto District of Nagaland, India. We administered a questionnaire survey (n = 153) based on a widely used four‐dimensional place attachment framework and a well‐known cognitive scale for measuring ecocentric attitude. The results indicate that Jhum farmers' modest ecocentric attitude is significantly associated with their place attachment, especially with place identity and place dependence, although their behaviour of organized deforestation is in apparent contradiction. While an ecocentric attitude generally contributes to environmentally responsible behaviour, we argue that, for Jhum farmers, the absence of such a causal relationship is influenced by other rationalities, particularly owing to the lack of alternative livelihood opportunities. The findings of this study establish the inherent positive ecocentric attitude of Jhum farmers who are often held responsible for deforestation and environmental degradation. Furthermore, we argue that such an inherent positive ecocentric attitude and a strong place attachment are imperative to implement place‐based models for sustainable mountain agriculture.

State of Praxis in The Oath of Vayuputras: An Eco-Critical Perspective

The depletion and drying of river water across India is a growing problem in the contemporary period. The ecologists have raised a huge concern regarding the depletion of river water in India. The drying, depletion, and disappearance of the rivers in India can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization. The ecological disturbance on land resulted in the loss of the Saraswati River. Amish Tripathi is a renowned figure in the realm of popular Indian mythological fiction. He has not only re-narrated the mythology of India but has also retold the history and geological reasons for the disappearance of the Saraswati River in his novel The Oath of Vayuputras (2013). The research article views the novel from a deep eco-critical perspective to examine the rationale behind the drying and depletion of the Saraswati River due to the destructive production and disposal of Somras and its toxic waste in the river. The article aims at showing the ecological disturbance in the biosphere which is the result of the progress of the human race towards civilization. The shunning of the eco-centric attitude and the development of a capitalistic attitude in humans towards other living beings have resulted in this disrupted eco-system in the present biosphere.

Determining the Dominant Cognitive Attitude toward the Environment among the Employees and their Intention to Adopt Ecological Behaviour

The study intended to find out the level of cognitive attitude toward the environment such as anthropocentric and eco-centric attitude toward the environment and ecological behaviour of employees and find out its correlation between attitude toward the environment and ecological behaviour of employees. To deepen and establish the theory of study, related literature was reviewed and carry out the study, the questionnaires were used to gather the data. The population of the study was all employees of the two colleges in the Ilocos region. The study used descriptive correlational research design and the Pearson r correlation was used to determine the correlation. The study found that the anthropocentric attitude is higher than the eco-centric attitude. Therefore the dominant attitude of employees toward the environment is an anthropocentric attitude. It is also found that there is a correlation between attitude toward the environment and ecological behaviour. Both environmental attitudes affects the ecological behaviour of the employees. Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted.

ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE TELEVISION COMMERCIALS

Environmental problems have been increasingly relevant for consumers and companies. Consumers with strong ecocentric attitudes prefer to purchase green products. Companies that are aware of the change develop new marketing strategies. Some of these companies focus on innovation in the products, while others focus on promotion. While it may not be possible for companies to convert every product to a green product, every company can carry out a green marketing promotion strategy. The commercial is the most effective of these strategies with many functions, including raising awareness and providing information. The aim of this research is to examine the relationships between variables on the basis of environmental attitudes and to investigate the effect of a TV commercial with an emphasis on environmental sensitivity through a structural model. A survey was conducted with 579 participants within the scope of the research. The partial least squares (PLS) method was used to examine the relationships within the models established during the analysis phase. In this study, the Finish brand dishwasher detergent commercial shown on TV channels in Turkey was evaluated within the scope of a structural model. The commercial variable was used as a moderator in the model. The content of the commercial subject to the research is related to environmental sensitivity. In the commercial, it is recommended that consumers place dishes in the dishwasher without prewashing the dishes for less water consumption. Our research results reveal that the environmentally sensitive commercial has a moderating effect between ecocentric attitude and brand trust.

Measuring Environmental Attitude and Environmental Behavior of Senior High School Students of Divine Word Colleges in Region I, Philippines

The study was motivated by the realities of climate change and its effect on the human life. The study argues that environmental problems are caused by human attitude toward environment and such attitude affects environmental behavior. In order to support such theory, the literature and studies were reviewed. The data gathered through questionnaires and 400 students were given the questionnaires. The descriptive correlational study was utilized to determine the extent of the correlation between environmental attitude and environmental behavior of the Senior High School Students of Divine Word Colleges in Region I, Philippines. The study revealed that anthropocentric attitude and eco-centric attitude were found to be dominant among students. However, the correlation was found only between eco-centric attitude and environmental behavior along environmental movement activism and personal conservation behavior, while anthropocentric and human dominance over nature attitude do not correlate to the environmental behavior.

Middle School Students' Environmental Attitudes and Informal Reasoning Regarding an Environmental Socioscientific Issue

The purpose of the current study is to reveal students’ environmental attitudes, their informal reasoning, and how their informal reasoning on a socioscientific issue changes depending on their environmental attitudes. The study participants were 104 eighth-grade students. A form consisting of a scenario and open-ended questions was used as data collection tools. During the analysis of the collected data, the descriptive analysis method and descriptive statistics were used. The findings revealed that the majority of the students had an anthropocentric attitude toward the socioscientific issue and largely presented rationalistic reasoning. Moreover, while the students with an anthropocentric attitude used rational reasoning more, students with an ecocentric attitude presented rationalistic, emotional, and rationalistic-emotional reasoning. Considering the findings of the current study, suggestions are made to develop students’ emotional reasoning as well as rational reasoning by means of training students to have an ecocentric attitude.

Teachers’ and Student Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Nature and the Environment—A Comparative Study Between Sweden and France

ABSTRACT Throughout the world, the educational system is expected to deal with issues regarding sustainability and to promote pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes. This study investigates attitudes towards nature and the environment among 1,109 teachers and student teachers in Sweden and France, using the 2 factor Model of Environmental Values (2-MEV). The results imply that in both Sweden and France, teachers and student teachers hold a prevailingly ecocentric attitude, as opposed to an anthropocentric attitude, which possibly indicates a predominantly positive approach towards the environment and environmental education. Comparisons between the countries show, however, that the Swedish teachers and student teachers hold a more anthropocentric attitude than the teachers and student teachers in the French sample.

Is Technical Efficiency Affected by Farmers’ Preference for Mitigation and Adaptation Actions against Climate Change? A Case Study in Northwest Mexico

Climate change has adverse effects on agriculture, decreasing crop quality and productivity. This makes it necessary to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies that contribute to the maintenance of technical efficiency (TE). This study analyzed the relationship of TE with farmers’ mitigation and adaptation action preferences, their risk and environmental attitudes, and their perception of climate change. Through the stochastic frontier method, TE levels were estimated for 370 farmers in Northwest Mexico. The results showed the average efficiency levels (57%) for three identified groups of farmers: High TE (15% of farmers), average TE (72%), and low TE (13%). Our results showed a relationship between two of the preferred adaptation actions against climate change estimated using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. The most efficient farmers preferred “change crops,” while less efficient farmers preferred “invest in irrigation infrastructure.” The anthropocentric environmental attitude inferred from the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale was related to the level of TE. Efficient farmers were those with an anthropocentric environmental attitude, compared to less efficient farmers, who exhibited an ecocentric attitude. The climate change issues were more perceived by moderately efficient farmers. These findings set out a roadmap for policy-makers to face climate change at the regional level.

The Importance of Environmental Attitudes Towards Products for Sustainability and Business Strategies

Abstract In green marketing, it is crucial for businesses to decide first to whether the environmental benefits of the product or its individual benefits should be emphasized. Knowing the environmental behaviors of those who prefer these products in their daily lives will also help to classify the consumers. In this research, the relationship between ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes towards products, environmental behavior, eco-brand awareness, and eco-brand loyalty have been investigated in order to highlight the aforementioned issues. These relationships have been tested with a structural equation model. Within the scope of the research, the questionnaire method was used as the data collection method. The sample of the research consists of teacher candidates. The results show that there is a positive relationship between ecocentric attitude towards products and environmental behavior and no statistically significant relationship between anthropocentric attitude and environmental behavior. In addition, there was a positive relationship between environmental behavior and brand awareness; and brand awareness and brand loyalty.

An investigation of ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes and antipathy towards environment in athletes

The aim of this study is to examine the ecocentric, anthropocentric and antipathetic attitudes towards the environment regarding with different variables. Study group is composed of 413 athletes randomly selected from directly nature sports and also sports that is not related to nature. To collect data, ecocentric, anthropocentric and antipathetic attitudes towards the protection of the environment scale is used. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics of the athletes’ attitudes towards environment were calculated. For other variables’ comparison, independent t-test and ANOVA were applied. As a result; amongst athletes’ the ecocentric attitudes’ mean was found the highest. Athletes’ ecocentric attitude values vary only. According to their educational level; anthropocentric attitude values vary according to their sport type and educational level; antipathetic attitudes towards the protection of the environment vary according to sex, sports type, educational level, perceived income level and also the living environment. s conclusion; athletes with university and higher educational levels have higher ecocentric scores than athletes with high school and lower education levels; athletes from nature sports and athletes with high school and lower educational levels have higher anthropocentric scores than athletes from indoor sports and athletes with university and higher educational levels; finally, men participants than women participant, athletes from nature sports than athletes from indoor sports, athletes with high school and lower educational levels than athletes with university and higher educational levels, participants with high and low perceived income levels than participants with average perceived income levels, participants living in country side than participants living in cities have higher antipathetic attitude scores towards the protection of the environment.

Exploring the Role of Future Perspective in Predicting Turkish University Students’ Beliefs About Global Climate Change

AbstractRecent studies indicate that limited understanding about causes and its potential impacts of climate change and fault beliefs by people across different countries of the world including Turkey is a real challenge. Acceptance of climate change as a real threat, believing its existence, and knowing causes and consequences are very significant for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Therefore, exploring underlying factors shaping or affecting beliefs of people is needed for designing educational interventions for a change in individuals’ attitudes and behaviours. The main purpose of the present study was to explore how and to what extent future time perspective, perceived knowledge about global climate change, and environmental attitudes explain the university students’ beliefs about occurrence, causes and consequences of GCC. A quantitative research was conducted with the participation of one thousand, five hundred and eighty undergraduate students (n=1580) of METU and the data was gathered through Future Perspective Related Beliefs about Global Climate Change Scale. The study findings suggested that ecocentric attitude and perceived knowledge are mainly two influential factors for the undergraduate students’ beliefs about global climate change. Future time perspective’s contribution although low, was found to be significant in beliefs about GCC. The results of this study would shed light to evaluate and improve educational programs and curriculum in higher education, and can be a guide because Turkish literature does not serve any research that seek students’ future time perspective related to global climate change.

The Dichotomy in between Ecocentrism & Anthropocentrism: An Ecocritical Rendering of Two Indian English Poets

One of the plebeian environmental moral dilemmas that are noticed in third world nations are the dialectical assimilation in between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism. Owing to some devout and semipolitical prejudices some people are taking the whip hand over nature snubbing the nature, flora and fauna. But concurrently some of the great unwashed gestate in nature centered ecological system and yielding values to all non-human entities unheeding of their usefulness to human civilization. In the third world Asian countries this situation is even more abominable and eminent eco-socialists assay to exhibit this delineated envision in various ways for it becomes necessitate for them. While it is in the case of literary eminent some Indian English poets conjure up their apotheosis and cerebration through their penned composition. Poets from Indiaon one hand depict the anthropocentric attitude of their native people and simultaneously they assume ecocentric attitude. Exalted bookmen like Keki N.Daruwalla and Shiv K.Kumar evince the world with its acculturation, sights and sounds, predilection, disillusionment, bewilderment and discombobulation ensuing from modern way of living and mentation. So from this vantage point their eco-poems arbitrate in between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism. A construe brooding of some of their oeuvre excogitate light on environmental awareness along with the enactment of human and non-human relation which is often laissez faire and patriarchal. Concurrently their perdurable compositions splay socio-ecologic discouse through which readers can ensnarl with the demography, urbanization, modernization and development of environmental activism. Their abiding oeuvre works like a mirror where the congenial understanding between man and nature along with the scope of verdict is contrived. Working within the peripheries of environmentalism their aeonian verse paves a way through which a solution within this third world environmentalism can be made possible.

MEASURING ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDE AND ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OF DIVINE WORD COLLEGES IN REGION I, PHILIPPINES

The study was motivated by the realities of climate change and its effect on the human life. The study argues that environmental problems are caused by human attitude toward environment and such attitude affects environmental behaviour. In order to support such theory, the literature and studies were reviewed. The data gathered through questionnaires and 400 students were given the questionnaires. The descriptive correlational study was utilized to determine the extent of the correlation between environmental attitude and environmental behaviour of the Senior High School Students of Divine Word Colleges in Region I, Philippines. The study revealed that anthropocentric attitude and eco-centric attitude were found to be dominant among students. However, the correlation was found only between eco-centric attitude and environmental behaviour along environmental movement activism and personal conservation behaviour, while anthropocentric and human dominance over nature attitude do not correlate to the environmental behaviour.

Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning and Lecture Demonstration Method on Developing Ecocentric Attitude among Secondary School Students

Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning and Lecture Demonstration Method on Developing Ecocentric Attitude among Secondary School Students

The ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes of preschool children related to different environments<p>Okul öncesi dönem çocukların farklı çevre konularına yönelik ekosantrik ve antroposentrik tutumları

The aim of the study is to define the attitudes of preschool children towards four different environmental subjects in terms of their habits of consumption, protection of environment, recycling-reusing and living habits and to analyze the reflection of residential area to the attitude towards the environment. In this study, where ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes to the environment were examined, design of phenomenology was used as a method of qualitative research. The study group in the research is composed of 41 children living in the rural (n=20) and urban (n=21) areas. The data were collected by using the interview form of The Children’s Attitudes toward the Environment Scale-Preschool Version (CATES-PV). During data analysis, the qualitative and quantitative methods were used together. In this respect, descriptive analysis was used to identify the attitudes of children related to environmental issues, and Chi-square test for two variables was used to determine the reflection of residential area to the attitude towards the environment. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the environmental attitudes of children to their habits of consumption, recycling and living was ecocentric at first. However, when the reasons for such attitudes were examined, these children were observed to have anthropocentric attitudes mostly. It was also determined that the children mostly had an ecocentric attitude only in the sub-dimension of environment protection. Moreover, the residential area of the children, whether it was rural or urban,was not a significant variable in the differentiation of their attitudes towards the environment. ÖzetAraştırmanın amacı, okul öncesi eğitime devam eden çocukların tüketim alışkanlıkları, çevreyi koruma, geri dönüşüm-yeniden kullanım ve yaşam alışkanlıkları bakımından dört farklı çevresel konuya yönelik tutumlarının belirlenmesi ve yaşadıkları yerin çevreye yönelik tutuma yansımasının incelenmesidir. Çevreye yönelik tutumların ekosantrik ve antroposentrik bakış açısı çerçevesinde incelendiği bu çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden fenomenoloji deseni kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu kırsal (n=20) ve kentsel (n=21) bölgelerde yaşayan toplam 41 çocuk oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma verileri The Children’s Attitudes toward the Environment Scale-Preschool Version (CATES-PV) görüşme formu aracılığıyla toplanmış ve verilerin analiz sürecinde nitel ve nicel analiz yöntemleri bir arada kullanılmıştır. Çocukların çevre konularına yönelik tutumlarını belirlemek için betimsel analiz kullanılırken; yaşanılan yerin çevreye yönelik tutumlar üzerindeki yansımasını belirlemek amacıyla İki Değişken için Kay-Kare Testi uygulanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, çocukların tüketim alışkanlıkları, geri dönüşüm ve yaşam alışkanlıkları konularına ilişkin çevresel tutumlarının ilk bakışta ekosantrik olduğu ancak bu tutumlarının nedenleri incelendiğinde çoğunlukla antroposentrik tutuma sahip oldukları belirlenmiştir. Çocukların sadece çevreyi koruma alt boyutunda çoğunlukla ekosantrik tutuma sahip oldukları saptanmıştır. Ayrıca çocukların yaşadıkları yerin kentsel veya kırsal olmasının, çevreye yönelik tutumların farklılaşmasında önemli bir değişken olmadığı tespit edilmiştir.

Gaming can be sustainable too! Using Social Representation Theory to examine the moderating effects of tourism diversification on residents' tax paying behavior

Tourism authorities in the Las Vegas region have suggested the diversification of the tourism industry as a strategy to improve the vitality of rural communities outside of the metropolitan area. The present study uses Social Representation Theory as the conceptual basis to test the moderating effects of the various types of proposed tourism development on residents' willingness to pay higher taxes to support such development. A survey of 301 residents in Las Vegas rural communities examined how the factors of economic dependence on tourism, community attachment, and ecocentric attitude towards tourism influence residents' perceptions of tourism's impacts. A higher economic dependence on tourism and higher levels of community attachment led to more favorable perceptions of tourism's economic and social impacts. The economic impacts, in turn, resulted in a willingness to pay higher taxes, irrespective of the type of tourism development proposed by the Las Vegas authorities. The results suggest that rural communities reinforce a hegemonic social representation of tourism in order to characterize the ethos of capitalist urbanism that pervades the economic development discourse. The residents' social construction of tourism has important implications for tourism planners in the region and suggests the adoption of an inclusive tourism diversification strategy that leverages both gaming and alternative tourism.