Developing the implicit association test to uncover hidden preferences for sustainable drainage systems

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Urban Planning
• Psychology

Background:

• Understanding public perception of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) is vital for overcoming implementation barriers.
• Traditional explicit measures (e.g., questionnaires) for evaluating perceptions may be biased and incomplete.
• Unconscious attitudes towards SuDS in public greenspaces require novel investigation methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate unconscious public perceptions of SuDS using an innovative image-based Implicit Association Test.
• To compare implicit and explicit attitudes towards greenspaces with and without SuDS.
• To explore the relationship between explicit and implicit perceptions and their implications for SuDS design and acceptance.

Main Methods:

• Development and application of an image-based Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess unconscious perceptions of SuDS.
• Integration of IAT with explicit measures (e.g., questionnaires) to evaluate attitudes towards greenspaces.
• Study conducted on a sample population in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, focusing on public greenspace.

Main Results:

• The sample population perceived greenspaces with and without SuDS positively.
• Respondents demonstrated a preference for greenspaces without SuDS, rating them as more attractive, tidier, and safer, both implicitly and explicitly.
• A wide distribution of scores for SuDS indicated diverse opinions, highlighting the complexity of greenspace preferences.

Conclusions:

• Explicitly negative perceptions regarding tidiness and safety associated with SuDS may not reflect deeply held beliefs and could be influenced by social biases.
• The discrepancy between explicit and implicit test results suggests that stated attitudes towards natural spaces may not align with underlying behaviors.
• Combined implicit and explicit testing offers a more comprehensive understanding of public perception, informing SuDS design to enhance public acceptance and urban flood resilience.