The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 2 - 32

James C. Stoner * Yi Zhang

	 Residence halls are natural groups in
which to focus community building efforts
(Taub, 1998). Residence halls with larger populations foster an environment where there are
too many people with whom to interact (Valins
& Baum, 1973) and, on the contrary, smaller
residence halls have a higher sense of community compared to the larger ones (Devlin et al.,
2008). When considering residence hall population relative to their varied job responsibilities, some researchers (Bierman & Carpenter,
1994) found RAs serving in larger residence
halls "feel overwhelmed with responsibility"
due to the large populations of residents in
their floors or wings (p. 473). However, others
(Paladino et al., 2005) indicated that RAs at
smaller institutions have higher feelings of
depersonalization and experience higher level
of stress, specifically related to their smaller
staff sizes and being asked to do more within
the scope of their position. The discrepancies in the existing research suggest there is a
need to provide additional empirical evidence
on relationships between RAs' perceptions of
mattering and the type and size of residential
communities they serve.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF
MATTERING
Rosenberg and McCullough (1981) defined
mattering as "the feeling that others depend
upon us, are interested in us, are concerned
with our fate, or experience us as an ego-extension" (p. 165). In other words, people develop a
sense of mattering when they feel they are significant to those around them (Elliott, Kao, &
Grant, 2004) and when others appreciate and
care for them (Schlossberg, 1989).
	

32

Rosenberg and McCullough (1981) origi-

Numerous researchers have studied
sense of mattering and found that
it has a positive impact on an
individual's life. For instance, Dixon
found people with a stronger sense
of mattering were less likely to be
anxious or depressed.

nally proposed the concept of mattering to
include three components: attention, importance, and dependence. Over time, it was suggested that awareness was a similar but more
accurate description compared to attention,
while reliance was a more accurate description
than dependence (Elliot et al., 2004). Awareness
is a cognitive experience based on the recognition by others that we exist (Elliott et al.,
2004) and that others notice us and pay attention to us (Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981).
Importance is characterized by others being
concerned about what happens to us now and
in the future (Elliott et al., 2004; Rosenberg &
McCullough, 1981). Feeling important is also
based on the investment by others in our wellbeing (France & Finney, 2010). Finally, reliance
is built on the feeling that others need us or
depend on us (France & Finney, 2010).
	 Numerous researchers (Connolly & Myers,
2003; Dixon, Scheidegger, & McWhirter,
2009; Dixon & Robinson Kurpius, 2008;
Doğan, Özen, & Demir, 2012; Gibson & Myers,
2006; Schlossberg, 1989) have studied sense
of mattering and found that it has a positive

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 2

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