Frances M. Carp

Objective housing indicators as predictors of the subjective evaluations of elderly residents

Abstract This study examines objective housing indicators and their relationships with subjective housing quality evaluations for a representative national sample of independent elderly households. The environmental assessment paradigm in environmental psychology was applied to examine both main effects of objective housing indicators (E) and effects of possible interactions between personal (P) and environmental variables upon subjective evaluations. Objective environmental indicators were (1) structural adequacy, (2) maintenance quality, and (3) overhousing. Personal characteristics tested for interaction with environmental variables in affecting subjective evaluations were physical health and living arrangements (alone/with others). The main sample comprised householders age 80+ (1521 home owners and 644 renters); the cross-validation sample comprised householders age 75–79 years (1703 home owners and 666 renters). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that two indicators of physical housing quality (structural adequacy and maintenance quality) provided significant and meaningful predictions of subjective housing evaluations, explaining from 4·8–18·5% of the adjusted variance after potentially confounding variables were controlled, whereas overhousing was unrelated to this outcome. Interactions did not improve prediction of subjective housing assessments for elderly residents. Study findings are discussed in terms of their implications for environmental assessment research, the development of housing quality indicators, and practical applications in social gerontology.