Decorating Personal Places A Descriptive Analysis

TLDR: This article examined personalization of college dormitory rooms and found that most people decorated early in the quarter, decorating increased over time, and students differentially personalized their rooms in terms of the preceding categories.

Abstract: This study examined personalization of college dormitory rooms. Walls in college dormitories were photographed on two occasions, at the beginning and end of the first quarter in which new students were in residence. Decorations were content analyzed in terms of the following categories: personal relationships, values, abstract, reference, entertainment, and personal interest materials. The results indicated that most people decorated early in the quarter, decorating increased over time, and students differentially personalized their rooms in terms of the preceding categories. In addition, exploratory analyses were undertaken of modeling among roommates and relationships of decorating to dropout rates from the university.