Context effects which describe how the characteristics of residential alternatives affect evaluation and residential choices are examined empirically. The extent that people use different criteria to cognize dissimilar residential areas is investigated with survey data from Hamilton, Canada. For nine residential areas, individual differences in cognition and context effects are evaluated by a two-way analysis of variance of attribute ratings. No significant individual differences emerged for fourteen of the sixteen attributes. They are retained in the subsequent derivation of evaluative criteria. These criteria vary among areas, but context effects are comparatively weak. Context effects are reduced by removing individual differences in the cognition of residential area attributes.
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