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The home is the setting for the development and maintenance of a variety of interpersonal relationships. As such it provides an ideal setting in which to contemplate temporal and physical factors that are important in the formation and progress of relationships. This paper briefly reviews a framework of temporal qualities of homes, and illustrates its utility at identifying important aspects of home-based interpersonal relationships; examples are drawn from the other articles in the present volume. The bulk of the paper is devoted to a description of six ways in which the environment is related to interpersonal relationships: direct cause; mediated cause; perception-mediated cause; facilitator or supporter; reciprocal cause; and integral aspect. In addition to contributing to the precision with which we referto environment-behavior relations, this typology should direct researchers into new areas of inquiry, and help to ground interpersonal relationships theory to particular contexts. Preliminary suggestions are made for linking both time and place holistically with interpersonal relationships.

We describe an education and behavior change program with a multi‐level approach. The program goal is to change how people think about, use, store, and dispose of toxic household chemicals. We assume that changing long‐standing behaviors is difficult, requires interventions at multiple points in the individual/group/society/physical environmental system, and requires interventions that address both short‐ and long‐term behavior change. The heart of our program is small group discussions, with a trained leader who uses psychological theories to increase educational impact. Questionnaires indicated that participants were very pleased with the program, especially recipes for homemade nontoxic alternatives. We estimate that the presentation yielded almost three times as much cooperation as the previous 5 years of publicity and promotion (33% vs. 12%).

Transit-oriented developments are touted as providing a variety of social benefits, but personal benefits to residents are underresearched. The authors surveyed 51 residents before and after a new light rail stop was constructed in their revitalizing Salt Lake City neighborhood. Residents anticipated and then later experienced increased housing and neighborhood economic values, enhanced sense of community, and improved neighborhood reputation. Residents experienced greater than anticipated pedestrian and child safety after rail service started. Compared with resident perceptions of walkable neighborhoods elsewhere, the Salt Lake residents perceived their neighborhood to be denser, and offering less land-use diversity and more crime safety problems. Perceived walkability increased, with residents reporting greater land-use diversity and neighborhood satisfaction after rail stop completion. However, residents said more stores, parks and trails, and trees would improve walkability. These results show the personal benefits residents desire to make transit-oriented living a satisfying residential alternative.

Altman's territoriality theory was used as a framework for examining neighborhood attachment. We hypothesized that attachment would be manifested in interrelated patterns of neighboring behaviors, attitudes indicating that the block was a secondary territory, and individual and communal displays of holiday decorations. Design features of cul-de-sacs were hypothesized to contribute to greater degrees of block attachment on cul-de-sacs than on through streets. Attachment was assessed through interviews with female residents and observations of holiday decorations on the target home and its block at Halloween and Christmas. Analyses indicated that attitudes and behaviors did combine to reflect degrees of neighborhood attachment, and neighborhood ties were stronger on cul-de-sacs than on through streets. Decorating at both Halloween and Christmas tended to be a block phenomenon (if the target home was decorated, so were the neighbors' homes); decorating at each time was related to aspects of neighborhood attachment. The results indicated that attachment can be a multilevel phenomenon that is related to the street's environmental design. The influence of street form is discussed as a facilitator rather than a cause of attachment.

U.S. communities are becoming increasingly automobile dependent, with car use embedded in U.S. policies, practices, and preferences. To encourage transit use, transit systems too will require supporting policies, practices, and preferences. Light rail is currently enjoying some supportive policies, but research is just beginning to explore how psychological experiences might help support a switch to rail use. We propose a transactional approach to behavior change in which societal, physical environmental, and inter‐ and intrapersonal factors combine to support a new behavior. We illustrate this perspective at a university host site for the 2002 Olympics, where temporary parking shortages, the opening of a new light‐rail transit line, and an outreach program enhanced the attractiveness of transit. Transit use was maintained by psychological satisfactions such as enjoyment of productive and pleasant activities during the ride, positive evaluations of the service qualities of light rail, and the view that light rail enhanced city livability. Results support the transactional approach and suggest directions for actions in transit promotion, environmentalism, and urban design.

Two studies supported the hypothesis that signs designed to create a new polystyrene schema would be more effective than signs that did not address patrons' existing schemata. Schema-sensitive signs would (a) clearly define different types of polystyrene, (b) teach how clean polystyrene needed to be, and (c) keep contaminants out of the recycling bin. Study 1 showed a substantial increase in volume (from .25 to 3.5 bins recycled per day) and cleanliness (from major contamination to none), as well as corresponding increases in cafeteria patrons' knowledge about polystyrene recycling. Study 2 replicated the behavioral effects. Relative to the baseline, with schema-sensitive signs in place, weight increased by 87% and cleanliness scores improved by 43%. Although recycling quantity and quality improved during additional interventions, they were not significantly higher than levels achieved with only the schema-sensitive signs. Discussion suggested using schemasensitive interventions that are embedded in the total behavioral system.

Our study of "Christmas Street" (Oxley et al., 1986) was an illustration of the kind of research that might be undertaken within a transactional worldview. In the present article, we review some central philosophical principles of that worldview, how they differ from assumptions and principles of other worldviews, and how these principles influenced a variety of pragmatic decisions in our research. Some principles of this worldview are that phenomena should be studied holistically, should be expected to change with time and circumstances, and should be examined for their inherent patterns rather than for their "causeeffect" relationships. We conclude that our study of Christmas Street is a useful albeit imperfect application of the transactional worldview, and hope that it will stimulate further thought, discussion, and research from that perspective.

A transactional approach to research was illustrated through an analysis of social networks on a street. Patterns of interrelationships among multiple dimensions of networks were identified in summer and at Christmas. The assessment revealed relative continuity in social relationships, but change in the way in which social, affective, and environmental aspects of behavior were linked at the two times. The socially and psychologically bonded networks did not exhibit more home upkeep/landscaping in summer, but did decorate their homes more extensively at Christmas, supporting the view that the relationship/attachment/environmental aspects would fit together differently at the two times. The study suggests that neighborhood networks can be fruitfully understood as dynamic, multifaceted unities and that a transactional strategy can be a useful part of a total research program.

Guided walks near a light rail stop in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, were examined using a 2 (gender) × 3 (route walkability: low-mixed-, or high-walkability features) design. Trained raters confirmed that more walkable segments had more traffic, environmental, and social safety; pleasing aesthetics; natural features; pedestrian amenities; and land use diversity (using the Irvine-Minnesota physical environment audit) and a superior social milieu rating. According to tape-recorded open-ended descriptions, university student participants experienced walkable route segments as noticeably safer, with a more positive social environment, fewer social and physical incivilities, and more attractive natural and built environment features. According to closed-ended scales, walkable route segments had more pleasant social and/or environmental atmosphere and better traffic safety. Few gender differences were found. Results highlight the importance of understanding subjective experiences of walkability and suggest that these experiences should be an additional focus of urban design.

Commitment making is commonly regarded as an effective way to promote proenvironmental behaviors. The general idea is that when people commit to a certain behavior, they adhere to their commitment, and this produces long-term behavior change. Although this idea seems promising, the results are mixed. In the current article, the authors investigate whether and why commitment is effective. To do so, the authors first present a meta-analysis of environmental studies containing a commitment manipulation. Then, the authors investigate the psychological constructs that possibly underlie the commitment effect. They conclude that commitment making indeed leads to behavior change in the short- and long term, especially when compared with control conditions. However, a better understanding is needed of the possible underlying mechanisms that guide the commitment effect. The authors see commitment making as a potentially useful technique that could be improved by following up on findings from fundamental research. They provide suggestions for future research and recommendations for improving the effectiveness of commitment-making techniques.