Earl W. Morris

A Theory of Family Housing Adjustment

The paper presents a conceptual and theoretical framework for the study of the housing adjustment behavior of families. Families are viewed as evaluating their housing in terms of cultural norms and family norms. When their housing does not meet the norms, it tends to give rise to dissatisfaction, producing a propensity to reduce the normative deficit. Residential mobility, residential adaptation, and family adaptation are the modes of adjustment used to reduce such deficits, and are undertaken when the constraints on the behavior can be overcome.

Housing Norms, Housing Satisfaction and the Propensity to Move.

Normative housing deficits are introduced into an analysis of the propensity to move as intervening variables between socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and satisfaction. The findings support the use of residential satisfaction and normative housing deficits as predictors of the propensity to move. The results indicate that the propensity to move is a response to housing satisfaction which, in turn, is a response to discrepancies between achieved and normatively prescribed housing.

Housing Conditions, Satisfaction, and Conventionality: An Analysis of the Housing of Female-Headed Households

The analysis in this paper tests the differences between female-headed households and jointly headed households on conditions, preferences and norms for single-family home owner ship. Data are from a sample of 1186 households drawn from small cities in north-central Iowa. Female-headed households were more likely to live in a dwelling that was neither owner-occupied nor a single-family dwelling than were jointly headed households. Preferences for ownership and structure type differed between the two household types, but reported norms for tenure and structure type were similar. Although female-headed households were less likely to own single-family dwellings than jointly headed households, their housing conditions did not reduce their housing satisfaction. Female-headed households evidently have avoided dissatisfaction by developing unconventional housing preferences.

Two Tests of the Housing Adjustment Model of Residential Mobility

AbstractThis paper tests a theoretical microsociological model for the explanation of residential mobility. The theoretical model derives substantial support from two empirical analyses of a causal chain of normative deficits in the residence that affect the level of housing satisfaction, which, in turn, affects the propensity to move. This chain of causation is moderated by the influence of constraining factors that inhibit the perception and salience of deficits, the development of dissatisfaction, the development of a propensity to move and the actual occurrence of residential mobility.

The health status of women in Oaxaca: Determinants and consequences

Survey data from a sample of 575 women from the city of Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico, are analyzed to ascertain the effect of the receipt of job-related benefits, including health benefits, on the self-reported health status of women, their rating of the health of the members of their household, and their satisfaction with the health of the members of their household. Health status depends on the womans age, her socioeconomic status, and the number of children she has borne. Her rating of the health of the members of her household is related to her age, her socioeconomic status, and her rating of her own health. Satisfaction with the physical health of the members of the household is a function her health, her rating of the health of her household, her age, her socioeconomic status and the number of children she has borne. The overall conclusion is that, in this study, it is socioeconomic and demographic factors that are important in determining the womans health status, rather than the receipt of job-related benefits. That she reports good health is an important factor in her view of her familys health and her satisfaction with her own health and that of her family.

Tenure-Structure Deficit, Housing Satisfaction And The Propensity To Move: A Replication Of The Hous!Ng-Adjustment Model

AbstractThis paper is an analysis of normative deficits in home ownership and type of structure. Deficits based on family norms and perceived cultural norms are analyzed. The data were collected by researchers at the University of Nebraska and Iowa State University in 1977 as part of the regional research project, NC-128, “The Influence of Area of Residence on the Quality of Life”. The sample for this study includes 485 cases. The analyses include correlations and a three-level multi pie-regression procedure. The deficits are added, to explore their combined effects on housing satisfaction and the propensity to move. The results show that the effects of tenure-structure are indirect through housing satisfaction as well as direct to the propensity to move variable. The results of this study show that the constraint variables (household characteristics) are more than just determinants of tenure-structure deficits. They also constrain other points in the adjustment process.

Housing Status, Housing Expenditures, and Satisfaction with Housing Quality

AbstractThis paper is an investigation of the relationship between monthly housing expenditures and satisfaction with quality of housing among renters, owners with mortgages, and owners with no mortgages. The sample includes 592 Iowa husband-and-wife families in the age range from 18 to 60. The data are from a systematic random sample collected from 13 small cities during 1975 and 1976. The analyses include correlation and regression.Housing expenditures are positively related to family size, income, and education. The monthly housing expenditures for the renter with average characteristics is

Adjustment, Adaptation, Regeneration, and the Impact of Disasters on Housing and Households: A Prologue to Research

159.91; for the owner with no mortgage,

Logit Models for Housing Preferences, Demographic Variables and Actual Housing Conditions

95.42; for owners with a mortgage,

Reporting Error and Single-Family Home Ownership Norms and Preferences

206.59. Satisfaction with housing quality is positively related to family size, age, education and housing expenditures. Renters are less satisfied with housing quality than are either owners with a mortgage or owners with a paid-off mortgage. However, for renters, the satisfaction increases as a function of expenditures at a faster rate t...