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Close relationships and placemaking: Do objects in a couple's home reflect couplehood?
Author(s) -
Lohmann Andrew,
Arriaga Ximena B.,
Goodfriend Wind
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6811.00058
Subject(s) - closeness , notice , placemaking , psychology , social psychology , visitor pattern , romance , context (archaeology) , computer science , architecture , geography , mathematics , mathematical analysis , archaeology , urban design , political science , psychoanalysis , law , programming language
The domain of couple closeness extends well beyond the individual couple members themselves. Current research suggests that there are also indicators of couple closeness, functioning, and commitment that reside in the couple's physical environment. Two community samples of adults in marital or cohabitating romantic relationships ( N = 110) completed a questionnaire that tapped several relationship qualities and that asked them to indicate (a) the objects in their home that they most wanted visitors to notice and (b) their favorite objects. We examined couple displays (the percentage of objects they wanted a visitor to notice that were jointly acquired, as opposed to individually acquired), and couple markers (the percentage of favorite objects that were jointly acquired). Consistent with hypotheses, relationship qualities (closeness, dyadic adjustment, and commitment) were positively associated with reporting a relatively high proportion of (a) jointly acquired objects among those they wanted visitors to notice and (b) jointly acquired favorite objects. We discuss these results in the context of couple placemaking —the physical and symbolic creation of a home as represented operationally in the acquisition and placement of relationship–relevant objects.