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Life Sciences

Faculty Publications

2021

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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

What’S Water Got To Do With It? Place-Related Symbolic Meanings Alter Residents’ Perceived Effects Of Coastal Infrastructure, Bryce B. Dubois, Katherine Lacasse, Aaron J. Ley Jan 2021

What’S Water Got To Do With It? Place-Related Symbolic Meanings Alter Residents’ Perceived Effects Of Coastal Infrastructure, Bryce B. Dubois, Katherine Lacasse, Aaron J. Ley

Faculty Publications

The symbolic meanings residents associate with their local bodies of water and coastal infrastructure can shape their perceptions of the infrastructure’s effects. In this case, we conduct a survey (N = 168) to examine residents’ perceptions of visibly disruptive, yet environmentally

protective cooling towers attached to a long-standing coal-fired power plant on Mount Hope Bay. Residents’ symbolic meanings of the bay corresponded predominantly with aesthetic,

ecological, or recreational themes, whereas their symbolic meanings of the towers also focused on aesthetics as well as the towers’ function or uselessness. Although residents generally perceived the towers as having negative effects on …