Identity and Space - Design Research Friday

image by me  :)

The relationship between people and their environments and spaces is very complex. It is thought that parts of people's identity are affected by the spaces they inhabit. Like many interior designers, I am interested in the relationship between person and space, whether space means home, office or even neighbourhood.

I came across this paper that addressed some issues regarding identity and space and thought to share it with you here for a Design Research Friday post.

Twigger-Ross, C. L. & Uzzel, D. L. (1996). Place and Identity Processes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16, 205-220.

The researchers wanted to examine if and how space/environment plays a role in identity according to Breakwell's Identity Process model. More specifically, they wanted to "investigate the degree to which emotional attachment to a residential environment functions to develop and maintain identity processes". 

image by me  :)

Breakwell's Identity Process model proposes that "identity should be conceptualized in terms of a biological organism moving through time which develops through the accommodation, assimilation and evaluation of the social world". This accommodation, assimilation and evaluation is governed by four principles: distinctiveness (desire to be distinct or unique), continuity (desire to preserve continuity of self concept, even past and present versions), self-esteem (positive evaluations of one's self or group to which they belong) and (more recently added) self efficacy (individual's belief in their capabilities to meet situational demands).


The researchers developed a questionnaire focused on one's attachment to a place and collected data from people living in a specific geographical location - in this case, the London Docklands. If you are familiar with this location, it may be interesting for you to read the results further. 

For the sake of not turning this into a crazy long post, I will just say that generally their findings show that residential environment does play a role in the maintenance and development of the identity processes, mentioned previously. 


For those of you who have moved a lot, or moved away from your home country, you should read the paper in more detail. Lots of interesting things there. 

image by me  :)

This research paper made me realize some things about my current living situation and my resulting feelings. I like living in the city and consider myself a city person. I like to visit the country from time to time, but living there is a whole different thing, something that is not for me at this time of my life. These last few weeks, I have been living on a farm, in the country, and I have a few weeks left to go. This paper helped me understand why I feel so uncomfortable here. Having to live here conflicts with my perception of myself, with my identity. That's enough to make anyone uncomfortable. It also helped to explain why it wasn't as uncomfortable moving from Montreal to Berlin, even though the distance is much greater. Both are cool cities.

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In my opinion, these findings can just as easily be applied on a smaller scale, for example to someone's living room. Someone who prefers or identifies with traditional style will definitely feel uncomfortable having to live with a minimal, asymmetric living room.

So there you have it, as has been mentioned here before, when considering a person's environment, it is crucial to consider who that person is, who they think they are, and to plan a space that complements those notions and doesn't conflict with them. When our environment conflicts with our identity, we are not happy. Duh. Seems obvious, right? But just knowing that, understanding that and remembering that helps us make better decisions about space planning and design.

Any thoughts?

Xx. Holly.


ps. I changed the name of my "Research Findings Fridays" to "Design Research Fridays" - because I'm just crazy like that!