The social location of older New Zealanders' housing decisions : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Date
2015
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Massey University
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Abstract
Older adults’ housing decisions in later life are significant and complex. An older
person’s home can form a central part of their life, and has been shown to impact on
health and wellbeing, and be connected to identity and sense of attachment. Housing
decisions are complicated by the many factors requiring consideration, the reality that
ageing is often accompanied by changes in health and physical ability, and the process
being individualised to each person’s unique life circumstances. Past literature,
modelling the influencing factors on older adults’ housing decisions, has assumed that
decision-making has a clearly definable pathway and is both conscious and rational.
These assumptions have been criticised, along with these models being deemed overly
simplistic, by critics who call for an alternative approach to expand the understanding of
housing decision-making. In response to this, the present study aimed to explore the
social location of older New Zealanders’ housing decisions by examining the socially
available discursive resources that older adults draw on to construct their housing
choices. Interviews were conducted in the homes of five individuals and two couples,
aged over 65 years, who resided in a range of different housing situations. The
interviews were audio recorded, typed verbatim and discursively analysed as guided by
the phases outlined by Potter and Wetherell (1987). Five main interpretative repertoires
used to talk about housing choices were identified, labelled ‘Decline’, ‘Medical’,
‘Independence’, ‘Stability’ and ‘Familial’, along with the subject positions provided by
each of these discursive resources. There were a number of interactions between the
repertoires that showed participants shifting back and forth between using the different
repertoires, which provided a more nuanced understanding of how they constructed
their housing decisions. The identified discursive resources came from outside of what
is most commonly thought of as housing-related variables, demonstrating that these
decisions are constructed using broader social resources. The study has implications for
broadening the theoretical lens on the understanding of older adults’ housing decisions,
along with implications for housing decision-making and informing housing, health and
ageing policies. Overall, the social location of participants’ housing decisions
highlighted that they are not fixed, causal, linear processes, but instead complex and
dynamic, and located in people’s broader social lives.
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Keywords
Housing, New Zealand, Older people, Housing decisions