TERRITORIALITY IN THE HOUSE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE USE OF ROOMS AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF JAPANESE MARRIED-WOMEN

The present study aims to reduce the gap between theoretical and empir ical work regarding territoriality in domestic spaces and its psycholo gical meanings. Japanese married women responded to a questionnaire on territorial recognition of domestic space, use of rooms, and symptoms of psychological maladaptation. The results showed that most of them had their own controllable and personalized spaces in the home while o nly a few had exclusive spaces. Subjects tended to go to the place und er their control in order to be alone, to spend free time and to enter tain friends. Results also indicated that those who had controllable s pace showed better adaptation than those who did not. However, neither personalized nor exclusive spaces related to psychological well-being . Thus, the present study revealed that territoriality and the control lability of space in particular had a relationship to the use of rooms and well-being in Japanese women.