Housing Satisfaction of Older (55+) Single-Person Householders in U.S. Rural Communities

Abstract

This study aims to understand the housing satisfaction of older (55+) single-person householders in U.S. rural communities using the available variables from a secondary data set, the 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS). In this study, housing satisfaction was considered to be an indicator of quality of life. Based on previous studies, we developed a model to test a hypothesized relationship between older (55+) single-person householders’ (N = 1,017) housing satisfaction and their personal, physical, financial, and environmental characteristics. Multiple regression results showed that the model was supported, indicating that significant variables in housing satisfaction include age, gender, health status, age of house, structure type, and unit location. Among the significant variables, health status was revealed to be the strongest factor in housing satisfaction. Housing satisfaction was discussed as potential indicators of quality of life.

Keywords

housing satisfaction quality of life older single-person householders U.S. rural housing

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Amérigo

Aragonés

J. I.

(1990). Residential satisfaction in council housing. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 10, 313-325.

Amérigo

Aragonés

J. I.

(1997). A theoretical and methodological approach to the study of residential satisfaction. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 17, 47-57.

Andrews

F. M.

Withey

S. B.

(1976). Social indicators of well-being: American’s perceptions of life quality. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Banks

Haynes

Hill

(2009). Living in single person households and the risk of isolation in later life. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 4(1), 55-86.

Barnes

Blom

Cox

Lessof

Walker

(2006). The social exclusion of older people: Evidence from the first wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Retrieved from http://www.ifs.org.uk/docs/odpm_social_exclusion.pdf

Bergkvist

Rossiter

J. R.

(2007). The predictive validity of multiple-item versus single-item measures of the same constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 44, 175-184.

Brown

(1995). The effects of poverty environments on elders’ subjective well-being: A conceptual model. The Gerontologist, 35, 541-548.

Brown

(1997). The elderly in poor neighborhoods. New York, NY: Garland Publishing.

Bruin

M. J.

Cook

C. C.

(1997). Understanding constraints and residential satisfaction among low-income single-parent families. Environment & Behavior, 29, 532-553.

10.

Carp

F. M.

Carp

(1982). Perceived environmental quality of neighborhoods: Development of assessment scales and their relation to age and gender. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2, 295-312.

11.

Carvalho

George

Anthony

(1997). Residential satisfaction in condominios exclusivos (gate-guarded neighborhoods) in Brazil. Environment & Behavior, 29, 734-768.

12.

Danes

S. M.

Morris

E. W.

(1986). Housing status, housing expenditures, and satisfaction with housing quality. Housing and Society, 13(1), 32-43.

13.

Dye

C. J.

Willoughby

D. F.

Battisto

D. G.

(2011). Advice from rural elders: What it takes to age in place. Educational Gerontology, 37, 74-93. doi:10.1080/03601277.2010.515889

14.

Econometrica Inc. (2013). Codebook for the American Housing Survey, public use file: 1997-2011. Retrieved from http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/ahs/AHS_Codebook2.1_Final.pdf

15.

Erickson

L. D.

Call

V. A.

Brown

R. B.

(2012). SOS-satisfied or stuck, why older rural residents stay put: Aging in place or stuck in place in rural Utah. Rural Sociology, 77, 408-434.

16.

Filkins

Allen

J. C.

Cordes

(2000). Predicting community satisfaction among rural residents: An integrative model. Rural Sociology, 65, 72-86.

17.

Francescato

(1998). Residential satisfaction. In Van Vliet

(Ed.), The encyclopedia of housing (pp. 484-486). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

18.

Francescato

(2002). Residential satisfaction research: The case for the against. In Aragonés

J. I.

Francescato

Garling

(Eds.), Residential environments: Choice, satisfaction, and behavior (pp. 17-33). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

19.

Gardner

D. C.

Cummings

L. L.

Dunham

R. B.

Pierce

J. L.

(1998). Single-item versus multiple-item measurement scales: An empirical comparison. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 58, 898-915.

20.

Greenfield

E. A.

Russell

(2011). Identifying living arrangements that heighten risk for loneliness in later life: Evidence from the U.S. national social life, health, and aging project. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 30, 524-534.

21.

Gruber

K. J.

Shelton

G. G.

Godwin

D. D.

(1985). Housing satisfaction and type of residence. Housing and Society, 12(2), 97-106.

22.

Halvorsrud

Kalfoss

Diseth

Å.

Kirkevold

(2012). Quality of life in older Norwegian adults living at home: A cross-sectional survey. Journal of Research in Nursing, 17, 12-29.

23.

Henning-Smith

(April, 28, 2014) Quality of life and psychological distress among older adults: The role of living arrangements. Journal of Applied Gerontology. doi:10.1177/0733464814530805

24.

Hwang

Ziebarth

A. C.

(2006). Impacts of residential environments on housing satisfaction among Korean American elders. Housing and Society, 33(2), 1-21.

25.

Howell

D. C.

(2007). Statistical methods for psychology (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

26.

Iwarsson

Horstmann

Slaug

(2007). Housing matters in very old age-yet differently due to ADL dependence level differences. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 14, 3-15.

27.

Jacobsen

L. A.

Mather

Dupuis

(2012). Households change in the United States. Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Reports/2012/us-household-change.aspx

28.

Jensen

S. T.

(2013). Why is housing always satisfactory? A study into the impact of preference and experience on housing appreciation. Social Indicators Research, 113, 785-805.

29.

Jirovec

R. L.

Jirovec

M. M.

Bosse

(1985). Residential satisfaction as a function of micro and macro environmental conditions among urban elderly men. Research on Aging, 7, 601-616. doi:10.1177/0164027585007004006

30.

Joint Center for Housing Studies. (2010). The state of the nation’s housing 2009. Retrieved from http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/son2009.pdf

31.

Kahana

(1996). Conceptual and empirical advances in understanding aging well through proactive adaptation. In Bengtson

(Ed.), Adulthood and aging: Research on continuities and discontinuities (pp. 18-41). New York, NY: Springer.

32.

Keith

T. Z.

(2005). Multiple regression and beyond. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

33.

Klinenberg

(2012). Going solo: The extraordinary rise and surprising appeal of living alone. New York, NY: The Penguin Press.

34.

Lawton

M. P.

(1980). Housing the elderly: Residential quality and residential satisfaction. Research on Aging, 2, 309-328.

35.

Lawton

M. P.

Nahemow

(1973). Ecology and the aging process. In Eisdorfer

Lawton

M. P.

(Eds.), The psychology of adult development and aging (pp. 619-674). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

36.

Lee

Parrott

(2010). Housing satisfaction of Asian and pacific Island elders in the United States. Housing and Society, 37(2), 185-205.

37.

Lemon

B. W.

Bengtson

V. L.

Peterson

J. A.

(1972). An exploration of the activity theory of aging: Activity types and life satisfaction among in-movers to a retirement community. Journal of Gerontology, 27, 511-523.

38.

Longino

C. F.

Kart

C. S.

(1982). Explicating activity theory: A formal replication. Journal of Gerontology, 37, 713-722.

39.

Loo

(1986). Neighborhood satisfaction and safety: A study of a low-income ethic areas. Environment & Behavior, 18, 109-131.

40.

(1999). Determinants of residential satisfaction: Ordered logit vs. regression models. Growth and Change, 30, 264-287.

41.

Magaziner

Cadigan

D. A.

(1989). Community resources and mental health of older women living alone. Journal of Aging and Health, 1, 35-49.

42.

Mayoseitz Media. (2012). A team of one: The growth of one-person households. Retrieved from http://www.mayoseitzmediamonitor.com/a-team-of-one-the-growth-of-one-person-households

43.

Michael

Y. L.

Berkman

L. F.

Colditz

G. A.

Kawachi

(2001). Living arrangements, social integration, and change in functional health status. American Journal of Epidemiology, 153, 123-131.

44.

Montfort

E. D.

(1998). American Housing Survey. In Vliet

W. V.

(Ed.), The encyclopedia of housing (pp. 17-18). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

45.

Oswald

Wahl

H.-W.

(2004). Housing and health in later life. Reviews of Environmental Health, 19, 223-252.

46.

Oswald

Wahl

H. W.

Mollenkopf

Schilling

(2003). Housing and life satisfaction of older adults in two rural regions in Germany. Research on Aging, 25, 122-143.

47.

Oswald

Wahl

H. W.

Schilling

Nygren

Fänge

Sixsmith

Iwarsson

(2007). Relationships between housing and healthy aging in very old age. The Gerontologist, 47, 96-107.

48.

Pallant

(2007). SPSS: Survival manual. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, Open University Press.

49.

Palmer

(2006). Single person households: Issues that JRF should be thinking about. Retrieved from http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/palmer-9781859354759.pdf

50.

Parks

K. E.

Carswell

A. T.

James

R. N.

(2009). Residential satisfaction of military households in privatized apartment communities. Housing and Society, 36(1), 95-114.

51.

Pinquart

Sörensen

(2001). Gender differences in self-concept and psychological well-being in old age: A meta-analysis. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 56, 195-213.

52.

Ponzetti

(2003). Growing old in rural communities: A visual methodology for studying place attachment. Journal of Rural Community Psychology, E6(1). Retrieved from http://www.marshall.edu/jrcp/E6one_Ponzetti.htm

53.

Reitzes

D. C.

Mutran

E. J.

Verrill

L. A.

(1995). Activities and self-esteem: Continuing the development of activity theory. Research on Aging, 17, 260-277.

54.

Rioux

(2005). The well-being of aging people living in their own homes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 231-243.

55.

Rowe

J. W.

Kahn

R. L.

(1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37, 433-444. doi:10.1093/geront/37.4.433

56.

Strawbridge

W. J.

Cohen

R. D.

Shema

S. J.

Kaplan

G. A.

(1996). Successful aging: Predictors and associated activities. American Journal of Epidemiology, 144, 135-141.

57.

Sun

Lucas

Meng

Zhang

(2011). Association between living arrangements and health-related quality of life of urban elderly people: A study from China. Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation, 20, 359-369.

58.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). America’s families and living arrangements: 2013: Households (H table series). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/cps2013H.html

59.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2014). American FactFinder: B19013: Median household income in the past 12 months (in 2011 inflation-adjusted dollars). Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_1YR_B19013&;prodType=table

60.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2013). 2011 AHS national and metropolitan data [Data file and code book]. Retrieved from http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/ahs/ahsdata11.html

61.

Veenhoven

(1996). Developments in satisfaction research. Social Indicators Research, 37, 1-46.

62.

Wahl

H.-W.

(2001). Environmental influences on aging and behavior. In Birren

J. E.

Schaie

K. W.

(Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (5th ed., pp. 215-237). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

63.

Wanous

J. P.

Reichers

A. E.

Hudy

M. J.

(1997). Overall job satisfaction: How good are single-item measures? Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 247-252.

64.

Weidemann

Anderson

J. R.

(1985). A conceptual framework for residential satisfaction. In Altman

Werner

C. H.

(Eds.), Home environments (pp. 153-182). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

65.

Wulff

(2001). Growth and change in one person households: Implications for the housing market. Urban Policy and Research, 19, 467-489.

66.

Zhu

L. Y.

Shelton

G. G.

(1996). The relationship of housing costs and quality to housing satisfaction of older American homeowners: Regional and racial differences. Housing and Society, 23(2), 15-35.