ABSTRACT
This paper reports results of recent empirical research which examines similarities and differences in the preferences of poor blacks and affluent whites for visual attributes of housing. Our interpretation of the results suggests a dynamic theory of preference which has implications for environmental design and research methodologies. Our results and assumptions suggest that an individual’s preferences are influenced by his sensitivity to that of which he is deprived, thereby causing him to inflate its value, but only if (1) he perceives no other more pressing needs as he perceives his priority of needs, and (2) he has not adapted to that of which he is deprived to the extent that he no longer perceives a deprivation.
