Perceiving and representing both health and the environment: an exploratory investigation

This article describes an exploratory study that examined the perceptions of both health and environment among men and women in higher and lower status areas in Hamilton, Canada. Situated in the literatures on health perceptions and environmental concerns, it not only describes health and environment perceptions, but also explores their interconnections, arguing that concern for self is more salient than that for any other, including environment, and that this salience is predicated on notions of control and responsibility. The article concludes by speculating on reasons for these findings by suggesting an empirically derived cultural model for representation of health-environment relations and the bases of information processing in this arena.