The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1 - 24

Karen Erlandson

to ask someone to leave their own room. This
is consistent with roommates recognizing that
their room is the place for sleeping; therefore,
sleeping away from the room to obtain privacy
was not a common privacy acquisition strategy
(Amole, 2005). This supports data revealing
that avoidance is a common conﬂict strategy
among roommates (Sillars, 1980). The following comment is a good example: "When I am
in the room and my roommate comes in with
her boyfriend I just leave on my own most of
the time b/c it is awkward if I don't." Finally,
for some, signiﬁcant others or personal intimacy needs may not be a factor.
It is interesting to note that there were
no gender differences in this study. Men and
women equally reported the need for intimate
privacy, and they used the same types of strategies to achieve this end. This might be a reﬂection of changing sexual scripts that allow
women more freedom in their sexual behavior
(Bogle, 2007).

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
This study sought to understand how roommates make privacy bids in residential colleges. The results indicate that privacy for
intimacy needs is a problem for students in
residence halls who share living space, as most
reported having dealt with this issue. The ﬁndings of this study also suggest that many roommates negotiate how they will handle the need
for privacy before the need arises; when done
in this manner, the requests are usually direct
and unaggressive.
Residential life staff could help roommates construct a set of guidelines regarding how they will deal with potential conﬂicts
speciﬁcally regarding the need for private use
24

It is interesting to note that there
were no gender differences in this
reported the need for intimate
privacy, and they used the same
types of strategies to achieve this
changing sexual scripts that allow
women more freedom in their

of shared living space. When asking favors in
these situations, some strategies are considered
more appropriate than others. For example, assurances, acknowledgements, offers, and explanations are considered more appropriate
than prohibitions, demands, insults, and ridicule (Kellermann, 2004). To this end, RA staff
training should include more applied training that is speciﬁcally geared at helping RAs
assist residents in solving problems related to
negotiating the use of shared space for private
use. Part of this training could involve RA staff
implementing training programs to help staff
empower students to solve shared space issues
themselves before coming to the residential life
staff. Finally, better efforts could be made to use
roommate matching surveys that address a student's feelings regarding a roommate's signiﬁcant others and their access to the room. Some
students may not feel put out or frustrated if
their roommate requests the room alone for
some private time with their signiﬁcant other.

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1
