The Environment as a Social Symbol: Within a Theory of Environmental Action and Perception

Abstract

Professionals and social scientists tend to screen out the connections between the physical environment and its social meaning. In this paper a communications model of environmental action and perception is developed and elaborated. The intentions of the principal environmental actors, initiators, executives, monitors, owners, managers, and interpreters are discussed, with particular attention to their emphasis on the communication of self-identity and status, both to self and others. The attributes of environmental actions in different contexts, and the differing modes of perceiving and interpreting environments, especially during environmental conflicts and in home environments, when social meaning is dominant, are explored. Implications for policy and research are suggested.

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