Determinants of Place Attachment: Youth of Vukovar-Syrmia County as an Example

Abstract

This paper explores place attachment on the example of
students from the third and fourth grades of high school in
the area of Vukovar-Syrmia County. The objective of the
research is to determine the degree of place attachment
shown by young people, as well as the degree to which the
perception of material conditions of life, social cohesion, and
values influence the way they show their attachment. In this
paper, we talk about place attachment as a part of territorial
identity and we discuss the ways it is affected by other
important elements of life in a certain territory, but also the
values. The research has confirmed the thesis that social
cohesion has a significant connection to place attachment. It
has also been shown that this variable influenced place
attachment to a higher degree than different aspects of
material conditions of life in a certain place. Also, it is shown
that subjects' values impact place attachment, where subjects
with traditional values showed a higher degree of place
attachment.