CITATION AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
Cite as: Murphy, T. P. (1999). The human experience of wilderness. The Electronic Journal of Communication [On-line serial] 9 (2, 3, & 4).
© The Electronic Journal of Communication (1999).

ABSTRACT:
Increasing pressure is being placed on wilderness areas. To preserve this landscape, an understanding of the meaning of wilderness is required. This interpretive research, employing the Sense-Making Methodology, examines how people make sense of or give meaning to wilderness. Twenty informants at a large Midwestern university were interviewed for the study using a highly structured open-ended Sense Making instrument. Results confirmed prior studies on the meaning of wilderness—particularly the sense of wilderness as a place for withdrawal from modern life, for physical and spiritual renewal and as a connection to the environment. In addition, the study showed that these meanings were shared by visitors and non-visitors to wilderness, suggesting that a common definition of wilderness is present in the U.S. culture. Finally, results pointed to the importance of media portrayals of wilderness as a site of meaning creation, particularly for those without direct wilderness experiences and the potential importance of these vicarious, mediated experiences for efforts to preserve wilderness.

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See: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistmurphy.html.