Home-Psych: The Social Psychology of Home and Decoration [Hardcover]

Joan Kron (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 327 pages
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing; First edition (October 19, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517541823
• ISBN-13: 978-0517541821
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars People's houses are windows on their souls. . ., October 1, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Home-Psych: The Social Psychology of Home and Decoration (Hardcover)

This look at the way people's houses reflect themselves and their relationships with others is a wonderful hybrid of scholarship and popularization. Kron writes for magazines, but her insights come from anthropology, sociology and psychology -- and she's got a wonderful sense of humor. If you've ever wondered about roped off living rooms, guest towels which are never used or cheap soap in an expensively sybaritic shower, this is the book for you. It's a deceptively easy and pleasant read, the anecdotes so nicely illustrating her points that I reread it every couple years.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, February 19, 2011

By 

Pamela M. Tucker - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Home-Psych: The Social Psychology of Home and Decoration (Hardcover)

Ever wonder why you try so hard to have . . . or not have . . . your parents' decorating style? Why you feel compelled to place a velvet Elvis in your Ethan Allen dining room? Why you use red as a neutral, or prefer square lamps over curved ones? I wasn't looking for answers to such weighty questions because it had not dawned on me that decor was more than eye candy. I stumbled on the book in the library thirty years ago and purchased an old copy recently. I felt that this intelligent book gave me an important insight into how I furnish my home and the messages I send in my public space and the messages I express in my intimate space. I thought it was a very good book that reaches beyond its era of publication. I found it a good companion book to John Molloy's Dress for Success and/or Live for Success.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Dive Into Sociology, July 22, 2006

By 

Jadxia Lauron "aka Jade Lauron" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home-Psych: The Social Psychology of Home and Decoration (Hardcover)

This book elaborates on all of the psychological aspects of why we decorate our home. It discusses both our need for beauty, our desire for social standing, the pressure to keep up with our social peers, and our cravings for homes beyond our financial means. Home-Psych is incredibly easy to read, written more like an anecdotal tale than an in-depth study. This, to me, is also the reason why it's not a keeper. While a wonderful read the first time through, once read the information is well-retained. There aren't sub-plots, complex nuances, or much missed substance to glean on the second read-thru. In short, I highly recommend obtaining and reading this book the first time... and then passing it on to someone new.