Home and identity display: Interpreting resident territoriality from home exteriors

Although theory and research suggest that resident territorial commitment relates to home personalization and maintenance, it is uncertain whether naive observers can ordinarily perceive this commitment when looking at the home. In three experiments, judges were shown photographs of the front exteriors of homes owned by residents reporting strong or weak territorial commitments to their home and to their block. Across all three experiments judges were able to identify residents reporting territorial commitments, but were unable to discern whether this commitment was directed solely at the home, solely at the block, or at both the home and block. In experiment 2 a content analysis was conducted on the cues judges reported using in making their decisions about resident commitment. These data suggest that judges are unable to distinguish between home and block commitments because they often use the same set of cues to judge both types of commitment. Experiment 3 ruled out the possibility that block judgments echo home judgments simply because judges have no information about the block; even after judges are given a view of adjacent homes, block judgments do not increase in distinctiveness. The present study strengthens the claim that homes can accurately communicate resident territoriality, which can be important for those interested in interpreting or encouraging commitments to home and blocks (C) Academic Press Limited