More than bricks and mortar: Determining how the psychological qualities of home places influence resident well-being

1. More Than Bricks and Mortar:
Determining How the Psychological Qualities of
Home Places Influence Resident Well-being
Stephanie Wilkie, Q-Pei Tan, Joanne O’Lynn
Department of Psychology
University of Sunderland U.K.

2. Research Questions
How does home influence
resident well-being? (Study 2)
Limitation: Housing is not home.
- A range of places are considered home
Limitation: Psychological qualities not explored.
- Implied link after urban regeneration
What are the key qualities of
home places? (Study 1 and 2)
Limitation: Overlap between terms and lack of
consensus regarding key qualities.
- Social/Personal /Physical framework
- Between 6 – 15 characteristics
- Absence of people-place concepts
Limitation: Absence of a general measure of
home qualities.
- Qualitative methods dominate
- Existing measures too specialized

3. Housing
- Physical structure
- Quality
Influences on well-
being
- Lack of control
- Incivilities
- Quality
Damp
Noise
Differentiating Housing & Home (LO1)
Home
- Physical + Activity +
Meaning
Influences beyond
housing quality
- Urban regeneration
Autonomy
Haven
Status

4. Home Places
Country1
State2
City3
Place4
1
32

5. N = 129 and N = 96
Home Residence (52-58%)
Items (41 to 22 to 14)
PD-S: Feeling safe is one of the
appeals of this place.
PD-L: The layout of the place works
well for my needs.
PA: I would like to live here the rest
of my life.
PI: Many of my happiestmemories
have occurred here.
Organizing Qualities with Established Concepts
(LO2)
Place
Dependence
(Social and Lifestyle)
Behaviour: Centrality &
commitment
Place
Attachment
Affect: Emotional bonds
Place Identity
Cognition: „Who I am‟
Territoriality
Ownership & Control
Home

6. Relative Importance Varied
2.8
3.89
4.73
5.18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Place Attachment Place Identity Territoriality Place Dependence
5.36
6.36
6.54
6.91
8.09
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Place Attachment Place Identity Lifestyle Place
Dependence
Territoriality Social Place
Dependence
Study 1 Study 2

7. Satisfaction with Home
Place Dependence
Layout Style Belonging Safe Comfortable
57%

8. What are the key qualities of home? (RQ1)
Limitation 2: No general measure
- Not an alternative measure of satisfaction.
Limitation 1: Need for clarity
Reduction of categories and terminological
variation.
- Four factors consistent with common
person-place concepts and applicable to
a range of home places.
- Place dependence is the key construct for
considering a place home.
- Physical qualities associated with home
are focused on goal support.

9. Subjective
(Diener)
Life Satisfaction
Judgment of overall quality of life
How does home influence resident well-being?
(RQ2)
Psychological
Self-determination Theory
(Deci & Ryan)
Basic Psychological Needs
- Autonomy
- Competence
- Relatedness
Vitality
- State measure
- Feel alive and energetic

10. Life Satisfaction & Vitality
35%Place Dependence
24%Place Dependence

11. Basic Psychological Need Fulfillment
33%
Place Dependence
Place Identity ( - )
Autonomy Competence Relatedness
17%
Territoriality
23%
Place Dependence

12. Potential Applications (LO3)
Post-occupancy
Evaluation
Value-added Approach
- Important to satisfaction
- Provides an additional
measure to assess project
outcomes
Design & Urban
Regeneration
Physical + Social
- Compliments traditional
quality measures
- Integrate „soft‟ benefits of
regeneration into the planning
process
- Tool for agencies (e.g. social
housing)
Clinical & Counseling
Home not a happy place
- Forced relocation
- No home or negative
- Encourage bonds with
other locations

13. Integrating the Qualities of Home into Person-
Place Theories (LO4)
Sense of
Place
Place
Dependence
Place
Identity
Place
Attachment
What comes first?
•Attachment or Identity
•Both sub-ordinate to another
Home or Place?
•Is home just a special type of
place?

14. HOMEn.
1. A place where one lives; a residence.
2. The physical structure within which one lives, such as a house or apartment.
3. A dwelling place together with the family or social unit that occupies it; a household.
4. a. An environment offering security and happiness.
b. A valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin.
5. The place, such as a country or town, where one was born or has lived for a long
period.
6. The place where something is discovered, founded, developed, or promoted; a
source.
7. A headquarters; a home base.
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