Homeownership and Social Attachment

Abstract

A multivariate analysis of survey data collected by Claude Fischer (1982) in northern California is used to test whether or not homeownership is associated with attitudes and behaviors that seem supportive of the prevailing social order. Homeownership has a zero-order relationship with each of three indicators of “social attachment”: Attitudes indicative of traditionalism; participation in voluntary organizations; and informal interaction with neighbors. While the bivariate relationships between homeownership and each of the three social binds are reduced when socioeconomic status variables, life cycle variables, ecological variables, and length of residence are controlled, the partial coefficients for homeownership remain statistically significant.