Settlement-Identity: Psychological Bonds with Home Places in a Mobile Society

Abstract

This investigation addresses the theoretical analysis of one of the means by which the residentially mobile U.S. public may maintain the continuity of residential experiences despite the lack of lifetime stability of residence in one home place. It introduces a theoretical position that extends past research on the development of psychological bonds with the tangible surroundings of home places to explain the ways in which these experiences may generalize to the development of psychological bonds with types of settlements, or what will be called settlement-identity. This theoretical framework is applied in the context of a persistent dilemma of continued interest to urban scholars; namely, the distinction between city and suburban settlements. Specifically, the usefulness of this framework in explaining people's residential history and mobility plans, and the discriminations they make between the city and suburbs is illustrated by findings from a large sample survey conducted in Denver, Colorado.