Herzog, T.R. & J.L. Stark, 2004, Typicality and preference for positively and negatively valued environmental settings, in: Journal of Environmental Psychology, , 1
- Author : Herzog, T.R. & J.L. Stark
- Year : 2004
- Journal/Series : Journal of Environmental Psychology
- Volume Number (ANNUAL: Counting Volumes of the Year shown above) : 1
- Pages : 85-92
- Abstract in English : Typicality refers to the goodness of fit between a specific member of a category and the ideal or prototypical member. The better the fit between the specific instance and the prototype, the higher the typicality of the instance. In environmental psychology, typicality gas been investigated primarily as a predictor of preference reactions. Two theoretical models of how typicality relates to environmental preference have been proposed. One, known as the preference-for prototypes model, holds that a simple linear relation exist between typicality and preference. The other, known as the preference-for difference model, holds that a moderate degree of discrepancy between instance and prototype yields the highest preference. This model implies that a curvilinear relation exists between typicality and preference. It seemed reasonable that more typical park settings would be more highly preferred, but that alleys that are more typical would be more highly disliked. The authors suggest that in general, typicality can either increase or depress preference depending on the overall preference of the setting category. Hagerhall (2001) [in this database] predicted that high typicality would lead to consensus in preference judgement, resulting in lower variance in the variance in the preference rating. Typicality leads to greater consensus in preference reactions, and thus lower variance, regardless of the overall valuation of the setting category. The authors predicted that preference variance and mean typicality would be negatively related for both positively and negatively valued setting categories. The main hypothesis is: the relation between mean preference and mean typicality will be positive for parks and negative for alleys. This hypothesis is supported in this paper. However, typicality in a setting does not always lead to consensus in preference reactions and does not necessarily enhance preference
- Comments/Notes : KEYWORDS: preferences, typicality.