Home clutter and mental well-being: exploring moderators and the mediating role of home beauty.

Quinn, Francis

Abstract

Home clutter in non-hoarding populations correlates negatively with psychological well-being. However, mediators (i.e. mechanisms of action) and moderators (i.e. under what conditions or for whom do the effects hold) require further study. A cross-sectional survey of 501 adults from the general population during the COVID pandemic measured home clutter, perceived home beauty, appreciation of beauty, mental well-being, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction and potential moderators including demographics, location of survey completion, intention to declutter, time spent at home, and others. Using partial least-squares structural equation modelling, home clutter predicted more negative affect, life satisfaction and mental well-being. In a second model, these relationships were mediated by perceived home beauty. Relationships between clutter and outcomes were not significantly moderated. Findings point to potential for home conditions to affect psychological functioning, but moderation and mediation findings are exploratory and require replication using longitudinal and/or experimental designs.

Citation

QUINN, F. 2025. Home clutter and mental well-being: exploring moderators and the mediating role of home beauty. Journal of environmental psychology [online], In Press, article number 102672. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102672

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 25, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jun 26, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jun 27, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 27, 2025
• Journal: Journal of environmental psychology
• Print ISSN: 0272-4944
• Electronic ISSN: 1522-9610
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Article Number: 102672
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102672
• Keywords: Clutter; Tidiness; Home life; Well-being; Beauty; Life satisfaction
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2892703
• Additional Information: This article has been published with separate supporting information. This supporting information has been incorporated into a single file on this repository and can be found at the end of the file associated with this output.