Let’s be Intentional about Our Stuff: Exploring Clutter and Quality of Life

Rachael Suffrin, Clinical/Community Psychology Ph.D. Student, and Juline Girts, Psychology Masters Student of DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Proposal Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between clutter and quality of life. In this study, we are exploring the quality of life in terms of a stronger psychological sense of home and sense of community. As many intentional living communities proactively work towards building a sense of community and developing more than “just a home” for residents (with some also subscribing to a living simply philosophy), examining how beliefs, expectancies and attitudes about “home” may differ between intentional living communities, and traditional living situations (e.g., with roommates, living alone, in a dorm) will help to better understand the relationship between sense of community, home, clutter, and disorganization, as well as place and object attachment. Although many studies rely almost exclusively on self-report methods, this study exemplifies ingenuity and innovation by utilizing a combination of not only self-report, but also structured in-home observations with individuals across multiple samples (i.e., college student, post-undergraduate fellows, and adults in the community) to gain a clearer sense of how these variables interconnect. Findings may help to better understand how to improve the quality of life for individuals living in chronic disorganization and clutter.