Interviews

In this assignment we were given various titles in which we were to develop a set of questions from. I chose the title "How do people accumulate stuff". Under this heading i was to investigate the reasons why people tend to hang onto belongings they maybe don't even have a use for. I considered the main items people may accumulate, and the reasons behind this by using my personal experience as a reference; Clothes people may choose to hang on to for various reasons such as expense, individuality and sentimental value. The latter i would expect to find predominantly amounts females. Other items i would expect people to accumulate would perhaps be photos (because of the sentimental value), family heirlooms for that same reason, and also items such as jewellery, birthday and christmas presents etc.
Instead of putting the names on my blog of the people i'd interviewed, i decided to instead just show their age and their gender. I supposed that males and females would show different responses to the questionnaire and that perhaps the males wouldn't be as comfortable answering questions about personal items and that perhaps they wouldn't have as much of an attachment to items with a sentimental value to that of a girl.

These are some of my interviews.

Female, 20, art student

- What sort of things are you likely to accumulate in your home?
"I'm likely to accumulate bits and bobs, most of it's from years ago and ends up sitting in my drawers"
-Do you find yourself collecting sentimental items, clothing or photos?
"Yeah i have a wall covered in photos of my friends, i'll hang onto a few sentimental things but mainly clothes and shoes"
-Why do you hang onto certain garments?
"I like to keep clothes which are versatile, i won't keep something purely because of the price it cost. I tend to keep things which i find comfortable or if i'll wear it a lot.
- Do you value sentimental objects over expensive ones?
"I value them in a different way. I'll hang onto a few sentimental items which remind me of the past but i tend to accumulate things such as clothes which are less sentimental.
-Is this because you have an interest in fashion?
"I like to be able to re-wear items of clothing and wear something different to the current high street fashions.
-Do you feel your life style/ personal style influences what you keep and what you throw out?
"Yes. I am a student studying textiles to i tend to accumulate things i feel will become useful at some point. I'll hang onto scraps of material and junk on the off chance that i'll create a purpose for it, where i'd imagine people from more academic courses wouldn't really feel the need to collect such items. I think the more hands on the course is the more likely people are to accumulate things.

Female, 24, Medical Student

-What sort of things are likely to accumulate in your home?
"Newspapers, magazines and mail tend to build up in my house. Clothes are another thing which i tend to accumulate…I'm not good at throwing things out. I always think i'll maybe need it one day so it languishes at the back of my wardrobe. The things i wear most often are at the front of my wardrobe where they're more easily accessible.
-Do you have a reason for hanging onto certain garments?
"They ones i hang onto are mainly vintage, i'll also hang on to thing thinking "if i loose weight". I have some clothes which have sentimental value, things such as school blazers, signed shirts, these things i'll obviously never wear again but have memories attached to them.
"What possessions would you be likely to throw out and why?
"Cheap Primark throw away fashion with no sentimental value. The things i keep for longer tend to be timeless items as apposed to cheap Primark clothes. The ones i keep are more ambiguous.
-Does your lifestyle/ personal style effect what you keep and what you throw out?
"I like to see potential in things and will keep them in the of chance that i could make something out of them.
-Do you value sentimental objects over expensive ones?
"I value both for different reasons, for example my designer jacket i found for dirt cheap at a charity shop. Although it didn't cost a lot i like the story behind it and its an item of clothing i've become attached to. Things such as school blazers which embody certain things i'll hang on to for sentimental reasons, they're to be looked at not so much to wear.
-Most of these questions seemed to revert back to the subject of clothes, what do you feel is the reason for this?
"i feel clothes are an expression of who you are, its natural to build up a collection.

Male, 22, student

-What sort of things are you likely to accumulate in your home?
"Just junk really, the usual junk; beer cans, deodorant cans, things i can never usually be bothered to throw out.
-Do you find yourself accumulating things such as clothes and magazine/ newspapers?
"I don't really buy magazines, not so much clothes either. I'll accumulate clothes on my floor but only cause they need washing.
-Since you've moved away from your parents house it doesn't seem you've collected many things, did you find you accumulate things before you moved out?
"I've piles of guitar magazines back home, also loads of uni work, loose sheets of paper but i assume i'll need them at some point so hang on to them.
-Do you hang onto anything with sentimental value?
"I guess at home i've hung onto things with some sentimental value, if it reminds me of a certain time.
-Do you value sentimental objects over expensive ones?
"Would i value some sentimental crap over my guitar? No way. I can't think of anything that would have that much sentimental value.

Female, 21, Student.

-What sort of things do you find yourself accumulating at home?
"Clothes, newspapers, documents…random pieces of paper. Also photographs.
-Why do you find yourself hanging onto these things?
"well i hang onto newspapers because i never read them fully and always assume i'll come back to them. So i'll leave them until to built into a pile then chuck them out at the same time.
-Do you accumulate a lot of clothes in your wardrobe?
"I only really collect dresses and shoes, this is because i know i'll reuse them.
-Which of these are items mentioned are much important to you?
"Photographs remind me of people, I like being around people a lot.
-Would you value clothes and photographs on the same level?
"No way. My photographs are the most importuned thing in my life- if i was to be in a burning building the first thing i'd be to grab would be my photographs.
-Why?
"'Cause there's nothing better to me than being reminded of your past and the people that have come in and out of your life. I tend to forget things quickly so its good to be reminded by photographs at different time in my life.
-What possessions do you throw away and why?
"Receipts, carrier bags, jewellery. I don't really like jewellery, i'll always have it for years and never wear it. And i'll always loose earrings. Out of clothes shoes and jewellery i value shoes the most, they're most practical.


I found the results of the interviews quite interesting. The answers i received from the girls seemed quite in depth and detailed. They seemed to place high value on sentimental objects and seemed more likely to hang on to items in the off chance they could find some for them. I noticed that lifestyles were also a contributing factor to what determined whether an item would be thrown away of collected. For example a textile student would be more likely to hang on to scraps of material and things they feel can be recycles and made into something new. They seem to see the potential in what essentially is "junk".
Comparing the female answers to that of the male there is a lot of noticeable differences. Males seem less likely to go into detail about their possessions. They don't seem as sentimental or even bothered by what they keep and don't keep. It seems they have a few items they'll value, maybe for expense of what they can be used for.