Deciphering the impacts of environmental perceptions on place attachment from the perspective of place of origin: A case study of rural China

From the novel perspective of place of origin, this study theoretically addresses how environmental perceptions that vary with the means of human-place interaction affect place attachment. Focusing on China's inland villages as shared places of origin for stayers, outmigrants and returnees and using structural equation modeling, we empirically examine the impacts of perceptions of social, economic and governance environments on village attachment. We confirm that environmental perception is fundamental for place attachment formation. Specifically, the perception of an improving environment strengthens attachment, while that of a deteriorating environment weakens it, as shown by the positive impact of the perception of an increasingly better economic environment on the level of village attachment and the negative impact of a gradually loosening social environment on such attachment. The degree and significance of the impact largely depend on the closeness of people-environment interactions, which are mediated by people's satisfaction with the environment. These outcomes are evidenced by stayers' attachment level not being significantly weakened by the negative perception of the rural social environment and outmigrants' attachment level being significantly weakened by this perception. Stayers' attachment level is not significantly strengthened by the positive perception of the rural economic environment, while outmigrants' attachment level is significantly strengthened by this perception. The functionalism of environmental perception is evidenced by the greater contribution of nonagricultural development to the impact of economic environmental perception on village attachment, especially for returnees, and the greater contribution of emotional support to the impact of social environmental perception, especially for outmigrants.