2.2.5. Study Variables

The conceptual boundaries of the relationship between place attachment and place identity remain unclear and open from a theoretical point of view. Occasionally, these concepts are used interchangeably [67], as if they were synonyms. However, Lalli [68] and Puddifoot [69] incorporated place attachment under the concept of place identity. Hernández et al. [49] found that residents develop place attachment before place identity. However, Lewicka [70] argued that no agreemen<sup>t</sup> occurs on how the two concepts are correlated. The present work proposes that place identity and place attachment are different but related concepts, in which the former precedes the formation of the latter.

Neighbourhood incivility, as a multidimensional construct, including indicators of physical and social disorder [71], has the potential to decrease health behaviours (e.g., physical activity) among neighbourhood residents, as well as their physical and mental health [72]. It can be measured by physical and social incivilities [73]. Therefore, the proposed incivility variable is specified as a reflective second-order variable through the repeated use of all of the evident variables of the underlying first-order latent variable [74]. These hierarchical views have long been accepted in the current literature. In their study, Foster et al. [75] examined neighbourhood disorder items associated with fear of crime, through variables of physical incivilities and social incivilities. Jackson [76], in examining the social and cultural significance in the fear of crime, considered environmental incivilities using two sub-variables of physical incivilities and social incivilities. However, limited studies have empirically investigated the incivility variable using a second-order factor, because the aim is to examine the effects of the collective elements of social and physical incivilities on health.

Numerous studies have connected the concept of neighbourhood conditions to personal health. However, little research bears the theoretical framing of incivilities on the human–place bond that could undermine individuals' health. This study examines the idea that health is partially a feature of a residential neighbourhood's physical and social structures. The human–place bond has been recognized as a potential mediator between incivilities and health [22]. Although some variations are anticipated between the effects of the neighbourhood context and health, the degree to which this relationship differs depending on the level of place identity and place attachment among neighbours is largely unknown. Table 1 presents the definition of each dimension.

**Table 1.** Operationalisation of latent variables.

