Person, Environment, and Person-Environment Fit as Influences on Residential Satisfaction of Elders

Abstract

This article extends previous conceptualizations of person-environment fit from institutional to community settings, focusing on neighborhoods. The authors consider applicability of the congruence construct for understanding the impact of neighborhoods, including dwelling units, on older persons' residential satisfaction. They argue that characteristics of person, environment, and person-environment fit are important for determining residential satisfaction. Understanding each of these distinct but interdependent influences should result in better prediction of outcomes. To provide taxonomies of environmental features, the authors consider the following four physical and two social domains of neighborhood environments, which also form counterparts of personal characteristics for community-dwelling older people: physical amenities or aesthetics, resource amenities, safety, stimulation or peacefulness, homogeneity or heterogeneity, and interaction or solitude. In addition, they attempt to specify salient environmental dimensions, which may be best understood in terms of congruence with personal preferences, distinguishing them from personal or environmental influences that individually affect outcomes.