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Abstract

The home is the setting for the development and maintenance of a variety of interpersonal relationships. As such it provides an ideal setting in which to contemplate temporal and physical factors that are important in the formation and progress of relationships. This paper briefly reviews a framework of temporal qualities of homes, and illustrates its utility at identifying important aspects of home-based interpersonal relationships; examples are drawn from the other articles in the present volume. The bulk of the paper is devoted to a description of six ways in which the environment is related to interpersonal relationships: direct cause; mediated cause; perception-mediated cause; facilitator or supporter; reciprocal cause; and integral aspect. In addition to contributing to the precision with which we referto environment-behavior relations, this typology should direct researchers into new areas of inquiry, and help to ground interpersonal relationships theory to particular contexts. Preliminary suggestions are made for linking both time and place holistically with interpersonal relationships.

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Home Interiors

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