Encounter Norms in Backcountry Settings: Studies of Three Rivers

Abstract

Crowding in recreation settings has been discussed in the carrying capacity literature, and a major problem has been defining and measuring norms to see “how many is too many.” Vaske (1978) develops a scheme for representing the structure of crowding norms using Jackson's (1965) return potential model, but his measurement technique requires much repetition of items. A different approach was developed which requires less repetition and gives more information. Respondents were asked to think of study areas as providing opportunities for three different kinds of experiences, and for each one they specified norms for encounters occurring in different locations. There was remarkable similarity in social norms across study areas, even though perceptions of experiences currently available and ideas about what should be provided were different for each river. Results also suggest that there is less shared agreement about norms for higher density experiences. Further work is needed to help identify and describe different kinds of recreation experiences.

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