The measurement of 'rootedness' and the prediction of attachment to home-towns in college students

A 10-item questionnaire measuring 'rootedness' was developed using a sample of 134 undergraduates at a large state university. In a second study, the questionnaire was cross-validated with a sample of 126 undergraduates drawn from two other institutions. The questionnaire consists of two subscales b ased on factors called 'Desire for Change' and 'Home/Family Satisfaction'. In both samples, the scales successfully predicted place-relevant behavior and feelings such as the frequency of homesickness, the intention to return to one's home town following graduation, the frequency of visits from frie nds back home, and subscriptions to home-town newspapers. The results sugge st that place attachment can be thought of as a quantifiable individual dif ference which might be used to predict the difficulty individuals will expe rience following relocation. (C) 1998 Academic Press.