The Instrument for Assessment of Home Attachment

Abstract

The high relevance of research on home attachment as an interdisciplinary and multilayered phenomenon is substantiated, which reflects the reciprocity of relationships between human and his/her environment and has regulatory and valeological meaning for personality. The problematic of the home attachment phenomenon is meticulously analyzed, which appears to be a specific type of place attachment; the multiple-level system of the notion of “home” as an object of functional, emotional and symbolic attachment is discussed, the main structural components that form it are considered, such as identification with place, sense of place, dependence on place. The methodological backgrounds and the process of development of the Home Attachment Questionnaire are articulated, its conceptual, empirical and factor models are described. The procedure and the results of the pilot study (N = 287, Mage = 21.5, SDage = 9.2) on questionnaire validation (factor analysis, internal consistency) are provided, as well as descriptive statistics. The results of the main study are given, which objective was to analyze the construct validity of the questionnaire. Validation included the verification of correlations between home attachment and level of functionality of home environment. The analysis of age specifics is described (three age groups were determined: youth, young and middle aged adults), which reflects the fact that relationships between home attachment and functionality strengthen with age. The relationships between home attachment and functionality are also moderated by gender: home attachment in women is linked to safety and possibility for personal growth in home environment, while in men it is linked to convenience and comfort of the dwelling. In conclusion, possibilities, limitations and prospects of use of the questionnaire are discussed.