Consumer participation in public housing has been accepted as a positive phenomenon, but continues to be poorly understood. This article presents an instrument to measure a new concept of tenant participation. The instrument is based on a model within which tenant values, goals, and understanding influence both participation behaviors and perceptions. Nineteen scales were tested on a sample of 153 tenants from housing projects in two midsized Canadian cities. Results indicated that tenant communication was the most important predictor of housing satisfaction. The number and age of children were related to some of the participation scales. Path analysis indicated intriguing differences between the determinants of participation behaviors and housing satisfaction.
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