The primary purposes of this dissertation were understanding the nature of anattitudinal scale designed to measure the consumptive orientation of recreational anglersand filling a gap in the published literature regarding measurement using the scale.Consumptive orientation was defined as the attitude anglers hold towards catching fish,including catching something, retaining fish (as opposed to releasing), catching largefish (size), and catching large amounts of fish (numbers). In order to confirm these fourattitudes are measured by the scale, a model was hypothesized and tested using aconfirmatory factor analysis on a sample of male anglers in Texas. It was reasoned thata different subculture may interpret the attitudinal statements differently; thus, thestructure of the scale was explored using women as a separate sample. Finally, anexample of how the scale could be used was provided by examining differences betweentournament and nontournament anglers?? attitudes towards the four constructs measuredby the scale. Overall, results were varied with the hypothesized model used to confirmthe scale. While results indicated dropping four of the sixteen statements would not result in a significant change in the structure of the scale, results also confirmed therewere four distinct attitudes measured by the consumptive orientation scale. The use ofthe scale with the larger angling population was confirmed by finding the same structureusing a sample of women anglers. Finally, the scale was shown to be useful forexamining activity-specific differences in angling social worlds. Differences weredetected between tournament and nontournament anglers on three of the fourconsumptive attitudes: ??catching numbers,?? ??catching large/trophy fish,?? and ??retainingfish.?? Differences found were related to the commitment level of tournament andnontournament anglers. Further analysis examined how avidity may have affecteddifferences among angler groups. These differences further current knowledge abouttournament anglers and their expectations for fishing experiences. Overall, resultssupport the usefulness of the consumptive orientation scale as a survey tool forunderstanding recreational fishing clientele.
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