Impact of selected personal factors on seasonal variability of recreationist weather perceptions and preferences in Warsaw (Poland)

Abstract

Weather and climate are important natural resources for tourism and recreation, although sometimes they can make outdoor leisure activities less satisfying or even impossible. The aim of this work was to determine weather perception seasonal variability of people staying outdoors in urban environment for tourism and recreation, as well as to determine if personal factors influence estimation of recreationist actual biometeorological conditions and personal expectations towards weather elements. To investigate how human thermal sensations vary upon meteorological conditions typical for temperate climate, weather perception field researches were conducted in Warsaw (Poland) in all seasons. Urban recreationists’ preference for slightly warm thermal conditions, sunny, windless and cloudless weather, were identified as well as PET values considered to be optimal for sightseeing were defined between 27.3 and 31.7 °C. The results confirmed existence of phenomena called alliesthesia, which manifested in divergent thermal perception of comparable biometeorological conditions in transitional seasons. The results suggest that recreationist thermal sensations differed from other interviewees’ responses and were affected not only by physiological processes but they were also conditioned by psychological factors (i.e. attitude, expectations). Significant impact of respondents’ place of origin and its climate on creating thermal sensations and preferences was observed. Sex and age influence thermal preferences, whereas state of acclimatization is related with thermal sensations to some point.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00484-016-1220-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Exploring outdoor thermal perception—a revised model

“…The other major set of psychological factors identified in the literature were short-term influences (box J) that were first identified by Nikolopoulou and Steemers (2003) and then by others (also see review by Chen and Ng 2012). These comprise a person's mood at a specific moment (Knez and Thorsson 2008;Yin et al 2012;Lindner-Cendrowska and Błażejczyk 2018;Peng et al 2019), whether or not a person is with company (Nikolopoulou and Lykoudis 2006;Sharifi et al 2016;Peng et al 2019), and has perceived control over the microclimatic conditions and the persons' intention for a site visit (Nikolopoulou and Lykoudis 2006;Lin 2009;Tung et al 2014;Sharifi et al 2016;Lindner-Cendrowska and Błażejczyk 2018;Johansson et al 2018). Another temporary factor is "alliesthesia," meaning that the perception of a thermal stimulus can differ depending on other simultaneous sensory stimuli (De Dear 2011; Shooshtarian and Ridley 2017; Lindner-Cendrowska and Błażejczyk 2018; Yung et al 2019).…”

Changes Detected in Five Bioclimatic Indices in Large Romanian Cities over the Period 1961–2016

“…Two comprehensive reviews have been developed [11,12], whereas some other research papers focused on specific issues. The great majority of these studies have focused on thermal sensations in urban areas [1,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

"Typology of Outdoor Seating Areas of Restaurants Based on Factors Influencing Their Thermal Comfort. A Case Study of Pilsen City Centre, Czechia "

“…These factors can determine whether the area is suitable for staying in or whether it is likely to be used less due to thermal stress (Égerházi et al, 2009). The stress occurs when a person feels excessively cold or hot in a given environment (Lindner-Cendrowska and Błażejczyk, 2018). Appropriate design and correct placement within the area in question can mitigate the thermal stress.…”