Tiny homes are generally between 100 and 400 square feet, and come in a variety of forms, from small cabins or a trailer to micro apartments.
Tiny houses are really interesting because people design and personalise them. The entire space revolves around a desire to live more modestly while saving resources.

The tiny house movement

*Inspirations for going tiny is environmental consciousness, self-sufficiency, and the desire for a life adventure.
But tiny houses physically demand particular social relationships that not everyone can manage. A family in a little house will likely feel cramped, which can create a chain reaction of stressors.

Reflecting values of the tiny houses movement

Those who desire to live in tiny homes show two psychological mechanisms:
<ul>
<li>Clustering. It is the idea that we tend to mix with like-minded individuals.</li>
<li>Self-verification. We want to be seen in ways that are aligned with our identities. </li>
</ul>
If you live in a tiny house, you probably have a high need for uniqueness and enjoy an intellectual challenge - you will have distinct constraints that will require a solution.

Psychological mechanisms of choosing tiny houses

While the list of characteristics describing the ideal tiny house candidate is distinct, it appeals to an unexpected broad demographic.
But, similar to NASA, who brings in psychologists to understand how the small physical space of a shuttle will affect the mindset of astronauts, psychologists should be involved in tiny architecture planning.

Tiny house spreading worldwide

<img src="https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/61/7a/c7/c0/2974/475c/b4d9/666d7decdf28/the-psychology-of-tiny-houses.jpeg?w=2000&amp;h=640&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces" alt="" srcset="https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/61/7a/c7/c0/2974/475c/b4d9/666d7decdf28/the-psychology-of-tiny-houses.jpeg?w=414&amp;h=478&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces 414w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/61/7a/c7/c0/2974/475c/b4d9/666d7decdf28/the-psychology-of-tiny-houses.jpeg?w=414&amp;h=478&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2 828w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/61/7a/c7/c0/2974/475c/b4d9/666d7decdf28/the-psychology-of-tiny-houses.jpeg?w=2000&amp;h=640&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces 2000w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/61/7a/c7/c0/2974/475c/b4d9/666d7decdf28/the-psychology-of-tiny-houses.jpeg?w=2000&amp;h=640&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2 4000w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/61/7a/c7/c0/2974/475c/b4d9/666d7decdf28/the-psychology-of-tiny-houses.jpeg?w=768&amp;h=890&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces 768w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/61/7a/c7/c0/2974/475c/b4d9/666d7decdf28/the-psychology-of-tiny-houses.jpeg?w=768&amp;h=890&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2 1536w" width="785" height="220">Move over, McMansions of the nineties and aughts: Tiny homes are here to take over.Generally between 100 and 400 square feet, the tiny homes that are trendy these days come in a variety of forms: small <a href="http://www.tinyportablecedarcabins.com/" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">portable cabins</a> or a trailer rigged to look like a <a href="http://www.countryliving.com/home-design/g1887/tiny-house/?slide=19" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">Pinterest fantasy</a>. Then there are the urbanite cousins of the tiny house — micro-apartments — first established <a href="http://www.fastcoexist.com/3017659/these-photos-of-tiny-futuristic-japanese-apartments-show-how-micro-micro-apartments-can-be%20" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">in Japan</a> in the 1970s and now <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/realestate/testing-the-first-micro-apartments-in-new-york-city.html" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">a new addition</a> to the Manhattan real estate market.“I think tiny homes are really interesting because one of the things we’ve seen, as people design and personalize them, is that their values are reflected in their home space,” Lindsay Graham, a researcher specialist at the <a href="http://www.cbe.berkeley.edu/aboutus/staff-lindsay.htm" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">Center for the Built Environment</a> within the University of California, Berkeley, says. “What’s cool about tiny homes is that the entire space is sort of a broadcast of some sort of value that you hold in relation to homes, sustainability, and how you’re living your life.”Graham ventures that the motivations behind living in a tiny home likely revolve around a desire to live more modestly while conserving resources, which according to the resource site <a href="http://thetinylife.com/what-is-the-tiny-house-movement/" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">The Tiny Life</a> is exactly in line with the tenets of the “tiny house movement.” Environmental consciousness, self-sufficiency, and the desire for a life adventure are all listed as inspirations for going small — and the tiny house itself becomes a banner flag for the values its occupant feels defines them as a person.<figure><img src="https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/d6/2e/e8/c1/7a11/459d/b3cb/6d90aadd3d15/the-typical-tiny-house-is-between-100-and-400-square-feet.jpeg?w=349&amp;h=349&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=max&amp;crop=faces" alt="" srcset="https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/d6/2e/e8/c1/7a11/459d/b3cb/6d90aadd3d15/the-typical-tiny-house-is-between-100-and-400-square-feet.jpeg?w=349&amp;h=349&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=max&amp;crop=faces 349w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/d6/2e/e8/c1/7a11/459d/b3cb/6d90aadd3d15/the-typical-tiny-house-is-between-100-and-400-square-feet.jpeg?w=349&amp;h=349&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=max&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2 698w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/d6/2e/e8/c1/7a11/459d/b3cb/6d90aadd3d15/the-typical-tiny-house-is-between-100-and-400-square-feet.jpeg?w=710&amp;h=710&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=max&amp;crop=faces 710w, https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/d6/2e/e8/c1/7a11/459d/b3cb/6d90aadd3d15/the-typical-tiny-house-is-between-100-and-400-square-feet.jpeg?w=710&amp;h=710&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;cs=srgb&amp;q=70&amp;fit=max&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2 1420w" width="656" height="656"><figcaption class="rRG TNI" dir="ltr">The typical tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet.<cite class="hWs" dir="ltr"><a rel="noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowdykittens/8367819239/?utm_keyword=referral_inverse" dir="ltr">Tammy Strobel/Flicrk</a></cite></figcaption></figure>Environmental psychologists reason that homes are influential on the emotional state of people because they “facilitate the social interactions and the power dynamics that are played out in a home,” according to a <a href="http://pps.sagepub.com/content/10/3/346.short" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">2015 paper</a> co-written by Graham. Fair, but the problem with tiny houses is that they can be ground zero for the type of conflict unique to tight quarters: They physically demand extremely specific social relationships that not everyone can — or should — maneuver. Dak Kopec of Boston Architectural College told The Atlantic that micro-apartments could “definitely be unhealthy for older people … who face different stress factors that can make tight living conditions a problem.” A family in a tiny house is likely a cramped one — which can create a chain reaction of stressors.It’s also fair to argue that people with families or who are attached to many possessions would never dream of living in a tiny home. “With choosing tiny homes, I would suspect that it’s a certain type of person who is going to be gravitating towards those spaces and it’s again the people who have values that they feel are being reflected by living that way,” says Graham. “We try to match our spaces to the activities that we need to accomplish.”<figure><img src="https://www.inverse.com/article/19140-psychology-of-tiny-homes-and-micro-apartments" alt="" width="656" height="492"><figcaption class="rRG TNI" dir="ltr">Approximately 68 percent of people with tiny houses don't have a mortgage.&nbsp;<cite class="hWs" dir="ltr"><a rel="noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowdykittens/8368867448/?utm_keyword=referral_inverse" dir="ltr">Tammy Strobel/Flickr</a></cite></figcaption></figure>Those who do want to live in tiny homes exhibit two psychological mechanisms in particular: clustering and self-verification. Clustering, or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Big-Sort-Clustering-Like-Minded-America/dp/0547237723?tag=inverse03-20" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">self-sorting</a>, is the idea that we tend to hang out with like-minded individuals. Clustering is further enhanced by a process called <a href="http://www.sicotests.com/psyarticle.asp?id=293" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">self-verification</a> — we want to be seen in ways that we are aligned with our identities. It’s what makes Facebook and Instagram more than personal diaries for us; like a home, they’re a reflection of our values and lifestyles and what we want others to imagine us to be.“I think it is likely that people who are living in tiny homes do have a particular sort of personality,” environmental psychologist <a href="http://www.designwithscience.com/aboutsally.html" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">Sally Augstin</a> tells Inverse. “If you live in one, you probably have a high need for uniqueness and you enjoy having an intellectual challenge — to find a way to live in a tiny home means you have solved lots of different puzzles. It is the sort of environment that allows you to create a space that sends messages that are important to you and align with your personality.”Years of environmental psychological research has taught experts like Augustin that things like light control and natural features like wood-grain are inexpensive ways to make a home more comfortable and relaxing. Access to natural light is key, she says, as is making sure that the colors of the walls are lighter which make them seem farther away — less eggplant, more sage green. Augustin also recommends that people have different light bulbs for different activities — more golden for relaxing, more blue for working — and says to keep the place from being visually complex. There’s a reason why The New York Times describes New York’s new nine-story micro-apartment building as “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/realestate/testing-the-first-micro-apartments-in-new-york-city.html" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">hipster Scandinavian</a>.”<figure><img src="https://www.inverse.com/article/19140-psychology-of-tiny-homes-and-micro-apartments" alt="" width="656" height="492"><figcaption class="rRG TNI" dir="ltr">Inside a tiny house.<cite class="hWs" dir="ltr"><a rel="noreferrer" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomascosauce/8158574969/?utm_keyword=referral_inverse" dir="ltr">Tomas Quinones/Flickr</a></cite></figcaption></figure>While the list of characteristics describing the ideal tiny house candidate is distinct — doesn’t have children, wants to live cheaply, doesn’t mind sacrificing space for simplicity — the tiny house movement appeals to a surprisingly broad demographic. Miniature habitats are <a href="http://money.cnn.com/interactive/pf/real-estate/micro-apartments/" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">spreading worldwide</a>, from Madrid to the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-16/micro-apartments-are-coming-to-the-midwest" rel="noreferrer" dir="ltr">American Midwest</a>. Graham compares the purposeful design of a tiny home to that <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/15386-proof-architecture-alters-how-we-think-will-alter-how-we-think-about-architecture" dir="ltr">of a space ship</a> — just like NASA brings in psychologists to understand how the physical space of a shuttle will affect the mindset of astronauts, so should architects work with psychologists to build tiny homes. However, that doesn’t seem to be the popular choice so far.“I think that it’s very important for psychologists to be involved [in tiny architecture planning],” says Graham. “One of the shortfalls within architecture and the design industry is that they have concepts of what they want to the user to do, or how they want that space to be used, but often there is a big disconnect between what the actual occupants need and the vision of the design team.”<div>Related Tags</div>

A tiny home does not necessarily translate to a tiny personality -- and that can be a problem.

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Move over, McMansions of the nineties and aughts: Tiny homes are here to take over. Generally between 100 and 400 square feet, the tiny homes that are trendy these days come in a variety of forms: small <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.tinyportablecedarcabins.com/" rel="noreferrer">portable cabins </a>or a trailer rigged to look like a <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.countryliving.com/home-design/g1887/tiny-house/?slide=19" rel="noreferrer">Pinterest fantasy </a>. Then there are the urbanite cousins of the tiny house — micro-apartments — first established <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.fastcoexist.com/3017659/these-photos-of-tiny-futuristic-japanese-apartments-show-how-micro-micro-apartments-can-be%20" rel="noreferrer">in Japan </a>in the 1970s and now <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/realestate/testing-the-first-micro-apartments-in-new-york-city.html" rel="noreferrer">a new addition </a>to the Manhattan real estate market.

“I think tiny homes are really interesting because one of the things we’ve seen, as people design and personalize them, is that their values are reflected in their home space,” Lindsay Graham, a researcher specialist at the <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.cbe.berkeley.edu/aboutus/staff-lindsay.htm" rel="noreferrer">Center for the Built Environment </a>within the University of California, Berkeley, says. “What’s cool about tiny homes is that the entire space is sort of a broadcast of some sort of value that you hold in relation to homes, sustainability, and how you’re living your life.”

Graham ventures that the motivations behind living in a tiny home likely revolve around a desire to live more modestly while conserving resources, which according to the resource site <a dir="ltr" href="http://thetinylife.com/what-is-the-tiny-house-movement/" rel="noreferrer">The Tiny Life </a>is exactly in line with the tenets of the “tiny house movement.” Environmental consciousness, self-sufficiency, and the desire for a life adventure are all listed as inspirations for going small — and the tiny house itself becomes a banner flag for the values its occupant feels defines them as a person.

Environmental psychologists reason that homes are influential on the emotional state of people because they “facilitate the social interactions and the power dynamics that are played out in a home,” according to a <a dir="ltr" href="http://pps.sagepub.com/content/10/3/346.short" rel="noreferrer">2015 paper </a>co-written by Graham. Fair, but the problem with tiny houses is that they can be ground zero for the type of conflict unique to tight quarters: They physically demand extremely specific social relationships that not everyone can — or should — maneuver. Dak Kopec of Boston Architectural College told The Atlantic that micro-apartments could “definitely be unhealthy for older people … who face different stress factors that can make tight living conditions a problem.” A family in a tiny house is likely a cramped one — which can create a chain reaction of stressors.

It’s also fair to argue that people with families or who are attached to many possessions would never dream of living in a tiny home. “With choosing tiny homes, I would suspect that it’s a certain type of person who is going to be gravitating towards those spaces and it’s again the people who have values that they feel are being reflected by living that way,” says Graham. “We try to match our spaces to the activities that we need to accomplish.”

Those who do want to live in tiny homes exhibit two psychological mechanisms in particular: clustering and self-verification. Clustering, or <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.amazon.com/Big-Sort-Clustering-Like-Minded-America/dp/0547237723?tag=inverse03-20" rel="noreferrer">self-sorting </a>, is the idea that we tend to hang out with like-minded individuals. Clustering is further enhanced by a process called <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.sicotests.com/psyarticle.asp?id=293" rel="noreferrer">self-verification </a>— we want to be seen in ways that we are aligned with our identities. It’s what makes Facebook and Instagram more than personal diaries for us; like a home, they’re a reflection of our values and lifestyles and what we want others to imagine us to be.

“I think it is likely that people who are living in tiny homes do have a particular sort of personality,” environmental psychologist <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.designwithscience.com/aboutsally.html" rel="noreferrer">Sally Augstin </a>tells Inverse . “If you live in one, you probably have a high need for uniqueness and you enjoy having an intellectual challenge — to find a way to live in a tiny home means you have solved lots of different puzzles. It is the sort of environment that allows you to create a space that sends messages that are important to you and align with your personality.”

Years of environmental psychological research has taught experts like Augustin that things like light control and natural features like wood-grain are inexpensive ways to make a home more comfortable and relaxing. Access to natural light is key, she says, as is making sure that the colors of the walls are lighter which make them seem farther away — less eggplant, more sage green. Augustin also recommends that people have different light bulbs for different activities — more golden for relaxing, more blue for working — and says to keep the place from being visually complex. There’s a reason why The New York Times describes New York’s new nine-story micro-apartment building as “<a dir="ltr" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/realestate/testing-the-first-micro-apartments-in-new-york-city.html" rel="noreferrer">hipster Scandinavian </a>.”

While the list of characteristics describing the ideal tiny house candidate is distinct — doesn’t have children, wants to live cheaply, doesn’t mind sacrificing space for simplicity — the tiny house movement appeals to a surprisingly broad demographic. Miniature habitats are <a dir="ltr" href="http://money.cnn.com/interactive/pf/real-estate/micro-apartments/" rel="noreferrer">spreading worldwide </a>, from Madrid to the <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-16/micro-apartments-are-coming-to-the-midwest" rel="noreferrer">American Midwest </a>. Graham compares the purposeful design of a tiny home to that <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.inverse.com/article/15386-proof-architecture-alters-how-we-think-will-alter-how-we-think-about-architecture">of a space ship </a>— just like NASA brings in psychologists to understand how the physical space of a shuttle will affect the mindset of astronauts, so should architects work with psychologists to build tiny homes. However, that doesn’t seem to be the popular choice so far.

“I think that it’s very important for psychologists to be involved [in tiny architecture planning],” says Graham. “One of the shortfalls within architecture and the design industry is that they have concepts of what they want to the user to do, or how they want that space to be used, but often there is a big disconnect between what the actual occupants need and the vision of the design team.”

Tiny Homes Aren't For Everyone

The tiny house movement

Reflecting values of the tiny houses movement

Psychological mechanisms of choosing tiny houses

Tiny house spreading worldwide

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