ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1645646
How Perceived Value, Environmental Awareness, and Social Identity Shape Public Support for Industrial Heritage: The Mediating Role of Place Attachment
Provisionally accepted
Yinghang Fu1
Weidan Dong2*- 1Dongshin University, Naju, Republic of Korea
- 2Dongshin University, Naju-si, Republic of Korea
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This study explores the psychological drivers of public engagement in the conservation of industrial heritage, focusing on the mediating role of place attachment. Drawing on environmental psychology frameworks, we examine how perceived heritage value, environmental sustainability awareness, social identity, and perceived government support influence behavioral intentions-specifically, willingness to participate and willingness to pay.Using survey data from 385 visitors to the "Changtuo 1958" industrial heritage site in China, we apply structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. Results show that all four predictors significantly enhance both participation and payment intentions. Place attachment serves as a partial mediator, with social identity showing the strongest overall impact on public support.These findings highlight the importance of affective bonds and identity-based perceptions in shaping pro-environmental behavior toward heritage conservation.Practical implications include fostering emotional connection, enhancing sustainability messaging, and increasing institutional trust to promote public engagement.
Keywords: environmental psychology, Industrial heritage, Public Participation, Willingness to pay, place attachment, Structural Equation Modeling
Received: 12 Jun 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fu and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Weidan Dong, Dongshin University, Naju-si, Republic of Korea
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