Zusammenfassung
Two questions are at the bases of this paper: (1) what is the importance
of environmental features among all other factors contributing to
threaten the individual's quality of life, and (2) are cities perceived
as being worse than rural environments in terms of environmental
quality? In order to respond to these questions, a French version
of the Lazarus Hassle scale has been published in an issue of the
periodic “Science et Vie”. 1791 individuals from all parts of France
sent in their responses. Results show that environmental features
are among the most severe hassles of daily life in French population.
They are the most often mentioned and the highest ranked items. Looking
at the size of the place of residence, it appears that inhabitants
of rural areas do not consider themselves significantly less exposed
to stressors like noise, air pollution, traffic problems or criminality
than Parisians or inhabitants of other big agglomerations, and they
do not feel significantly less irritated, frustrated or anxious by
environmental problems, than others. In terms of people–environment
relations, the results suggest that, whatever the objective environmental
condition, people feel stressed by environmental problems, which
indicates that the awareness of such issues seem to be at least partly
dependent on normative social constructs.
Nutzer