The Older Person's Emotional Attachment to the Physical Environment of the Residential Setting.

Abstract

This study investigated the phenomenon of emotional attachment to the residential setting in old age. The focus of inquiry was upon older people's feelings about personal possessions and homes lived in across the life span. At issue were the questions of how and in what ways elderly people derive emotional support from physical aspects of the residential setting. In order to probe experiences and underst and the inner meanings shared by subjects, a qualitative mode of investigation, which included a modified phenomenological method of analysis, was selected. Data were collected from a sample of volunteer elderly. In-depth interviews were conducted in the subjects' homes; additional data were obtained from personal documents and participant observation. Findings resulted in: (1) identification of possessions and aspects of house and nature which elicited emotional attachment; and (2) the discovery of three major themes characterizing emotional identification with the home setting and uniting the experiences and feelings for possessions, house and nature. It was concluded that the residential setting reinforces the older person's sense of self, and constitutes an emotional support system by facilitating feelings and experiences of: (1) connection to people and to nature; (2) continuity, via linkage with past and future generations, repetition of personal and family rituals, re-creation of environmental experience, and symbolic renewal of life in nature; (3) caring for l and and for things. Transcriptions of the interviews were given to the subjects for their reactions and modified accordingly. Several implications for social gerontology and for elderly housing were drawn: As possessions most prized in later years are those most closely identified with the self, divestiture of these items to relatives and friends provides the elderly with a means of ego transcendence. Adult children of aging parents assist in this transposition process by accepting the possessions which are h and ed down. Retirement housing contributes to psychological well-being by: (1) recapturing familiar features from the old person's past; (2) providing adequate storage space for possessions; (3) fostering passive and active access to nature; (4) giving residents the opportunity to assume some responsibility for caring for their home.