Place Attachment to Home Environments: Focusing on U.S. and Korean College Students

Abstract

This study explored the place attachment of college students to their home environments, suggesting valid factors and variables to explain their place attachment, and identify place attachment characteristics in two student groups with different housing backgrounds and conditions. The major data collection method for this survey was through a questionnaire. This study uses two data sets, one from the U.S. consisting of 352 college students’ responses and the other from Korea consisting of 418 college students’ responses. Through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, nineteen items under five place attachment factors were verified as valid sub-concepts that explained respondents’ place attachment to their home environments. The five factors were respectively labeled Affection, Rootedness, Identity, Restful Home, and Activities Dependence. The analysis showed that students’ different housing backgrounds and current housing conditions, based on their cultural differences, significantly affected their place attachment to home environments. Demographic variables such as gender, grade level, living with family (including parents), and type of current housing were significant determinants affecting college students' place attachment to home environments. The results of this study cannot be generalized for the two cultures due to the limited samples, but it is meaningful to explore the place attachment characteristics of two student groups who have culturally different housing backgrounds and conditions.