A Study on the Causes and Effects of Place Attachment - Based on the Perspective of Person

. Place attachment studies the positive emotional connection between people and places. It is a comprehensive concept and has gained a lot of sci-entiﬁc attention in recent decades. There are many researchers exploring its inﬂuencing factors, but in terms of “person”, most researchers are limited to demographic variables. This study collected 519 data through questionnaires, ex-cavated the possible predictors of residents’ place attachment based on the perspective of person, and constructed a structural equation model of place attachment to explore its causes and inﬂuence e ﬀ ects. The results of the study found that: 1) Possession, friend-tie, and self-identify positively a ﬀ ect residents’ place attachment; 2) place attachment positively a ﬀ ects residents’ subjective well-being, which in turn a ﬀ ects their recommendation intention.


Introduction
As one of the terms describing the emotional connection between people and places, place attachment has received widespread attention in many fields such as environmental psychology, sociology, tourism, etc. Place attachment reflects the bond that people develop through interactions with their surroundings [1]. The study of place attachment not only has the scientific significance of explaining the mechanism of the connection between people and the environment, but also has the application value of rebuilding the "positive emotional bond between individuals and specific places", and it also has an important impact on urban planning and design, tourist destination management and other aspects.
Scholars at home and abroad have conducted extensive research on the definition, dimension, source and effect of place attachment. A review of literary works on this topic shows that the research methods of place attachment can be divided into four broad areas: attachment to specific places and "meaningful locations"; predictors vs consequences of place attachment; methodologies of place dimensions; and theoretical approaches to the study [2]. A large part of the research mainly follows the idea of "attitude-behavior" in environmental psychology. On the basis of the theory that place attachment has been formed, empirical research is used to explore the influencing factors of residents and tourists' attachment and their behavioral tendencies. Summarizing the current research results, we found that the influencing factors of place attachment include personal factors, physical environmental factors, social environmental factors, and behavioral factors [3,4]. However, whether it is the theory of place attachment or the study of influencing factors, the study of "personal factors" is basically limited to demographic variables [5].
Inspired by the PPP theory proposed by Scannell, this study has seen the limitations of previous studies in exploring "personal factors" and expanded the causes and effects of place attachment from the perspective of person. This study takes representative Chinese cities and their residents as the research object, and explores the cause and effect of place attachment of city residents from the perspective of the "person". The aim of the current study is to accomplish the following two objectives: First, from the perspective of "person", expand the influencing factors of residents' place attachment, and provide a new perspective for subsequent research; Second, by constructing a structural equation model, this study explores the predictive effects of possession, friend-tie, family-tie and self-identification on residents' place attachment, as well as the relationship between place attachment and subjective well-being and recommendation intention. This study expands the theoretical contribution of place attachment, making personal factors not only limited to demographic variables, but also expand the predictors and results of it. It also provides new ideas for the government departments to improve residents' attachment and subjective well-being.
This paper is organized as follows. The next section focuses on the definition, theory, dimensions and measurements of place attachment, as well as related research progress. In the third section, we put forward the research framework and hypotheses. In the fourth part, we introduced research methodology, including the data collection and measurement. The data analysis and research findings are presented in the fifth section. The last section gives the theoretical and practical contributions, limitations and suggestions for future research.

Place Attachment: Conceptual Definition
Place attachment is a broad and burgeoning field of scholarship that, which is mature in theory, method, and application [6]. Place attachment has been theorized in multiple forms by different scholars, but at the core of most definitions of place attachment is the idea of bonding or affective connection [5]. Place attachment has been conceptualized as the "cognitiveemotional bond that forms between individuals and their important settings" [7]. It can be seen from the definition that emotions play a central role in the relationship between people and land, which is also a view generally agreed by scholars. Another researcher defined place attachment as "a positive emotional connection between an individual and a particular place, the main feature is that the individual tends to show intimacy with that place". This definition emphasizes that place attachment not only has a positive emotional component, but also has a behavioral component. To sum up, place attachment refers to the attachment relationship between people and places based on emotion, cognition and practice.

The Theory and Dimension of Place Attachment
A representative theory of place attachment is the three-dimensional framework theory of PPP proposed by Scannell. The main point of this theory is: Place attachment is a framework that contains three dimensions: person, place, and process [8]. The person dimension in this framework refers to the definition of individuals or groups in the place, emphasizing who has attachment to the place and the degree of attachment; the place dimension emphasizes the characteristics of the place, divided into social level and physical level, used to explain which places people are attached to and what characteristics these places have; The process dimension concerns the way that individuals and groups relate to a place, and the nature of the psychological interactions that occur in the environments that are important to them. The three-dimensional framework theory is a general refinement of the previous research on place attachment. It organizes and synthesizes knowledge about the structure of it, basically covering all levels of the concept of place attachment.
The dimensional composition of place attachment is the deconstruction of it, which provides a starting point for the study of place attachment. Some scholars believe that place attachment is a one-dimensional concept with only hierarchical differences, representing the general emotional connection between people and places.
More scholars believe that place attachment is a multidimensional concept. For example, Williams proposed that place attachment consists of two dimensions: place dependence and place identity. He believes that place attachment is a kind of connection between people and places based on feelings, cognition and practice, in which emotional factors play an important role. When Kyle studied the involvement of activities and the influence of place attachment on the density of the perceived environment, he divided place attachment into three dimensions: place identity, place dependence, and social connection [4]; Some scholars believe that there are four dimensions of place attachment, such as Jorgensen [9] pointed out that place attachment can be divided into place dependence, place identity, emotional attachment, and social connection. Hammit and others believe that place attachment consists of five dimensions: familiarity, belongingness, identity, dependence, and rootedness [10].

Causes of Place Attachment
Whether it is domestic or foreign, a large number of scholars have explored and analyzed the predictors (causes) of place attachment, and some scholars have tried to summarize their research and findings. For example, Lewicka simply classifies the predictors of attachment into three categories: Social-demographic, Social and Physical-environmental [5]. After conducting an extensive literature review, some scholars have divided the causes of place attachment into three aspects: demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics, and environment. Hesam believes that the effective predictors of place attachment are physical (rootedness) predictors and Social (bonding) predictors [4]. After conducting a large-scale literature review, this study divides the predictors of place attachment into the following three aspects: personal, environmental, and behavioral.
Personal factors include demographic variables, interpersonal relationships (such as neighborhood relations), home ownership and other internal factors related to the subject. Judging from demographic variables, studies in different regions have shown that there are certain differences in the level of attachment in terms of gender, age, income level, education level, occupation and other demographic characteristics. Another personal factor that has been found to have a predictive effect on place attachment is home ownership [11]. In terms of interpersonal relationships, the strength of community ties and neighborhood relationships have always been found to positively predict place attachment. Jepson [12] believe that in the community, the most important and common interpersonal interaction is the neighborhood relationship, and point out that this neighborhood relationship has an important impact on the place attachment of residents. Other variables, such as social and economic status, and home ownership also have an influence on place attachment [13]. Although previous research has made great progress on the influence of personal factors on place attachment, most research has focused on or limited to demographic variables and neighborhood relationships. In fact, from the perspective of "person", there is still great potential to explore the causes for place attachment.
Environmental factors include physical environmental factors and social environmental factors. Physical environmental factors refer to the elements that exist objectively in the real environment. The natural environment, environmental quality, and infrastructure of the place where people live will all have an impact on the sense of place. In terms of social environmental factors, social security, administrative management and traditional culture are considered to be important factors affecting the subject's place attachment.
Behavioral factors for tourists include residence time, travel companions, sources of information, familiarity with the destination, travel methods, types of activities, etc. For city residents, they mainly include residence time, mobility and its scope, time spent looking for a place to live, outdoor places to explore. Some scholars have found that residents who invest more time in finding a new home have a stronger attachment to the community. Seamon put forward the view of place-ballets. He believes that the sense of place is produced by the combination of "body-ballets" and "time-space routines", that is to say, a group of automated daily activities carried out at the place together contributed to the "place-ballets".

The Influence and Role of Place Attachment
The research on the influence and effect of place attachment is mainly to study the influence of place attachment on people's behavioral intentions. It can reshape people's way of life and attitude to life, guide people's behavior, and then solve specific problems. The research on the place attachment of residents mainly focuses on the attitude and behavior of resource protection and the attitude towards tourism development.
Place attachment is mainly used in tourism geography, leisure science and related fields. In addition, it is also involved in city planning and community fields. Other scholars have pointed out that place attachment can be used to solve problems in urbanization, suburbs, and urban renewal, such as the weakening, interruption, or loss of people's community identity attached to their place of residence, and the re-cultivation of place attachment to new places of residence.

Hypothesis Development
Based on the three-dimensional framework theory proposed by Scannell and the personal factors in the predictors of place attachment, the causes and effects of residents' place attachment are further expanded and explored from the perspective of person. We believe that as a resident living in a city, the material foundation he has in the city, the connection of friends and family in the city, and the identity brought to him by the city will promote their place attachment. And this sense of attachment will affect their subjective well-being, which in turn affects their willingness to recommend the city to others. Therefore, the hypothesis of this study are as follows.
Possession is defined as a situation in which members of a social group only respect the claim of an individual to have exclusive access to an object when he has physical control over it. The possession of this study refers to the material support related to the quality of life that residents have in the city. In the early research on community attachment, some researchers used indicators such as "purchased real estate" to represent place attachment. Hesam pointed out that the ownership of the house will increase the sense of attachment of residents, because they have a high degree of attachment to their own property, so residents are willing to stay in one place [14]. At the same time, the possession effect shows that individuals are more likely to show a high degree of attachment to objects they own than objects they do not own [15]. Therefore, we propose the following: Hypothesis1. Possession positively affects residents' place attachment. In terms of social environment, neighborhood relationship is considered to be an important factor affecting subject's place attachment. In fact, Wellman argues that the presence of modern communication and transportation liberates social ties from specific locations, and that people with mobility choose social members based on relationship rather than distance [16]. If people have meaningful social relationships in a particular place and live in that place, then this place will form meanings related to these social relationships and experiences. Studies by Mesch have shown that a place is meaningful because of social relations, and the degree of place attachment is positively correlated with the social and interpersonal relations of the place [11]. Thus,we propose the following: Hypothesis2. Friend-tie positively affects residents' place attachment.
Hypothesis3. Family-tie positively affects residents' place attachment. Self-identification refers to a personal cognitive connection between an individual and an object or goal, reflecting an individual's perception of oneness with the goal. We believe that the city in which a person lives helps him to establish his own identity, and living in a city can serve as an extension of himself. In the field of phenomenology, Heidegger proposed that dwelling, expresses a meaningful relationship between man and his environment; a relationship that grows from one's efforts to gain identity, which then, leads to an emotional attachment to a place [3]. Riger argues that a place may be seen as an important part of one's self, leading to a strong emotional attachment to the place [17]. Thus,we propose the following: Hypothesis4. Self-identification positively affects residents' place attachment. Diener defined subjective well-being in terms of three main components: cognitive evaluations about one's life (termed life satisfaction), positive affective experiences, and negative affective experiences [18]. Masso found that residential satisfaction is related to place attachment [19]. Rollero and De Piccoli believed that people who have established a positive emotional connection with the city or community they live in will experience a higher level of happiness [20]. Thus,we propose the following: Hypothesis5. Place attachment positively affects residents' Subjective well-being.
Tourists recommending intention is defined as the possibility of tourists are willing to recommend the city to others to travel. Based on this, from the residents perspective, the study defines the recommending intention as the possibility of residents recommending their city to others. Mannell and Kleiber brought up that individual subjective well-being will affect their own future behavior [21], and Kim verified that tourists' subjective well-being will have a positive impact on their future recreational behavior intentions [22]. Therefore, we propose the following: Hypothesis6. Subjective well-being positively affects residents' recommending intention. Based on the above hypothesis, we propose the following research model:

Sample and Procedures
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, is the center of industry, finance, communications, logistics and technology in Southwest China. According to the 2021 report of the "China Economic Life Survey", Chengdu ranks first among "China's Happiest Cities". Therefore, Chengdu residents tend to have a higher degree of participation in place attachment measurement projects.
In terms of sample structure, female respondents accounted for 64% of the total sample, higher than male respondents. The age of the respondents is mainly concentrated in 25-34 years old, accounting for 57% of the total sample; in terms of education level, the respondents mainly concentrated in master's degree or above, accounting for 40% of the total sample; in terms of years of residence in Chengdu, the respondents mainly distributed within 5-10 years (25%) and over 20 years (34%). The questionnaire of the study was uploaded to a Chinese online survey platform called "Wenjuanxing" (https://www.wjx.cn/) , and Chengdu residents aged over 25 were selected as the interviewees. 592 questionnaires were collected in this survey. After excluding invalid questionnaires with incomplete answers and too short answering time (within 50 seconds), 519 valid questionnaires were finally collected, with an effective recovery rate of 88%.

Measures
In order to ensure the content validity of the scale, we first conducted an extensive literature review, referring to relevant scales and measurement items proposed by domestic and foreign researchers. On this basis, in-depth group interviews were carried out. Then, a scale from the perspective of residents is developed. Except for demographic variables, the items in the questionnaire were all on a five-point Likert scale (1 = "strongly disagree", 5 = "strongly agree").
Possession consists of 4 items: I have a comfortable house in Chengdu; I have a nice car in Chengdu; I own some valuable items in Chengdu; My income is enough to cover my daily expenses in Chengdu overhead.
Friend-tie consists of 4 items: My friends in Chengdu can share happiness with me; share worries with me; give me some important life inspiration; give me warmth.
Family-tie consists of 3 items: I have a warm home in Chengdu; I have a loved one in Chengdu; My family is very happy.
Self-identify consists of 8 items: The development of Chengdu is closely related to my personal development; I am a part of Chengdu; When Chengdu is criticized, I feel obliged to maintain it; I agree with the development goals of Chengdu; The city is very suitable for my life; I identify with the values of Chengdu (harmony and inclusiveness, wisdom and integrity, pragmatism and innovation); I feel that I have a strong connection with Chengdu; I do not feel that I am an outsider in Chengdu.
The place attachment variable uses the scale developed by Zenker & Rütter [16], which consists of four items: The city is like home; There are many things that make me stay in this city; There is no other city I would like to live in; I am attached to this city.
The measurement of residents' subjective well-being is based on the Lyubomirsky scale, and the items are modified according to the characteristics of urban residents [23]. It is measured by three items: As a resident of Chengdu, I feel happy from the bottom of my heart; I am happy when I tell people from other places that I am a resident of Chengdu; My family members are all happy as residents of Chengdu.
The recommendation intention is based on an in-depth literature review and revised according to the characteristics of urban residents, including the following four topics: I will actively introduce the city of Chengdu to outsiders; I will actively recommend the city of Chengdu to outstanding talents, I hope they come to work in Chengdu; I will take the initiative to recommend the city of Chengdu to tourists, hoping that they will come to Chengdu for tourism; I will take the initiative to recommend the city of Chengdu to potential investors, hoping that they will invest in Chengdu.

Factor Reliabilities
Reliability is to verify whether the measurement structure reflects the true characteristics of the subject's stability and consistency. The Cronbach Alpha value of each variable ranges from 0.80 to 0.93 (higher than the recommended level of 0.70). Furthermore, the item-tototal correlations for each factor exceeded the suggested level of .40, which implies that all items of the model demonstrate a satisfactory fit.

Overall Model Fit
In this study, the maximum likelihood estimation method in AMOS 24.0 is used to test the fitness of the measurement model. The model fits the data well: χ 2 =1199.01, d f =384, normed χ 2 =3.12, p < 0.05,NFI=0.90 (above the .90 threshold), IFI=0.94 (above the .90 threshold), CFI=0.94 (above the .90 threshold), T LI=0.93 (above the .90 threshold)and RMS EA=0.064 (below the .80 threshold.The significant χ 2 -test observed here might reflect sensitivity to the sample size instead of an invalid model. As such, the χ 2 -test is not regarded as a key indicator to assess the hypothesized model in practice. The validity test includes convergence validity and discriminant validity. It is generally believed that when the P-value is significant, the latent variable factor loading is greater than 0.5, the CR is greater than 0.6, and the AVE is greater than 0.5, the convergence validity is good. According to table 2, it can be seen that the AVE of each latent variable is greater than 0.5, indicating that the scale has good convergence validity.

Factor Validity
The discriminant validity was examined by comparing the value of the square root of AVE of a construct with its correlation coefficients associated with other constructs. The square root of the AVE of each construct is greater than its correlation with any other construct, verifying that the constructs have discriminant validity (table 3) . These evaluations satisfied the measurement criteria for discriminant validity.

Analysis of the Structural Model
First of all, based on the hypotheses proposed earlier, we constructed a structural equation model and found that the model fits well: NFI=0.90, CFI=0.93, RMS EA=0.066. In terms of research hypotheses, the results show that (table 4) possession, friend-tie, and self-identify have a positive and significant impact on place attachment, supporting Hypothesis 1., Hypothesis 2., and Hypothesis 4.. However, family-tie has no significant impact on place attachment, so Hypothesis 3. is not established. At the same time, place attachment has a significant positive impact on the subjective wellbeing of residents, and the subjective well-being of residents has a significant positive impact on the recommendation intention, that is, Hypothesis 5. and Hypothesis 6. have been verified. The R 2 of place attachment, residents' subjective well-being and recommendation intention were 70.9%, 83.0%, 63.6%.
The possession of residents has a significant impact on the place attachment, indicating that the material support related to the basics of life such as houses and cars owned by residents will enhance their place attachment. Friend-tie also has a significant impact on place attachment. The warmth and close connection brought by a person's network of friends can promote his attachment to this place. Besides, self-identification will also positively affect residents' place attachment, and the city helps residents to establish identity. This identification, in turn, strengthens their connection and affection for the place.
However, the results of the study show that the impact of family-ties on city residents' place attachment is not significant, which is consistent with Luo's findings when exploring whether the spatial distribution of social-tie affects place attachment [5]. He found that kinship networks can significantly predict place attachment in the rural context, but this is not the case in the city. This may be because kinship in general areas provides group social activities, which are a source of entertainment, but it is less important in city environments, because it have more opportunities. At the same time, Brit found that new residents can also develop place attachment to new places relatively quickly [24]. Therefore, another possible reason why Hypothesis3. is not supported may be that in a city with high population mobility, such as Chengdu, family-tie is not a necessary factor for residents to develop attachment.
We also confirmed that place attachment can promote recommendation intention by affecting their subjective well-being. Place attachment enhances residents to make positive reviews of emotional experience and life satisfaction, and thus promoting them to recommend this city to others. This study provides several theoretical and managerial implications.

Theoretical Contributions
From "person" perspective, this study explodes and expands the causes and effects of residents' place attachment. This research makes the "person" dimension of place attachment not limited to demographic variables, such as gender, age, and occupation.
Secondly, this study constructed a structural equation model of place attachment and confirmed it. Besides exploring the influencing factors of place attachment, it also verified the model's promotion effects on and contribution to residents' subjective well-being and recommendation intention.

Managerial Implications
First, this study further explores the influence of possession, friend-tie and self-identification on residents' place attachment among personal factors, which provides theoretical support for urban management departments to understand residents' place attachment. The management department can also strengthen residents' understanding and recognition of the city (including the city's values, development goals) through publicity methods, and enhance residents' attachment through self-identification.
In addition, city managers should also be aware of the importance of place attachment on residents' well-being and recommendation intention. This study found that residents' place attachment has a significant positive effect on subjective well-being and recommendation intentions, laying a solid theoretical foundation for city management departments to improve residents' subjective well-being through place attachment.

Managerial Implications
This study has some limitations that offer directions for future research. First, this study takes Chengdu as the research object, future research can select more cases for analysis to improve the universality of the research results. Secondly, this study only explored the "person" perspective of place attachment. Follow-up research can start from place factors and behavioral factors to better improve and fill in the sources of place attachment. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No:72072122).