Place Meaning, Sense of Belonging, and Personalization Among University Students in Turkey

Abstract

This study is focused on place meaning, sense of belonging, and personalization of place among Turkish university students staying in on‐campus housing. Thirty‐three participants from a private university in Turkey were interviewed about their family homes, residence halls, and their favorite nonresidential settings. The results include what type of personal, social, and place attributes impacted the meanings and feelings the students associated with those settings, how and why they personalized those settings, the role of meaningful objects on place meaning, and gender differences regarding perception of place attributes.