361 Reaserch Article Evaluation of factors affecting female students’ satisfaction in residential dormitories M.T. Nazarpour 1* & S. Norouzian Maleki 2 1 * . Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran 2. Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran Abstract Aim: The purpose of the present study was to determine factors affecting the quality of dormitory physical environment. Methods: The research method was correlational and the statistical population consisted of all female students living in dormitories (N=1648). The sample size was based on Kline’s (2015) recommendation of 2.5–5 cases per parameter. Since there were 29 parameters in the present study, a sample size of 150 was deemed suitable. This cross-sectional study was conducted using 172 female students residing in the women’s dormitory of Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran from October to December 2018. Bachelor, Master and PhD students were selected using cluster sampling. Respondents were selected from 24 different disciplines and from faculties of Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering. Students’ residential satisfaction questionnaire was completed by all participants. Students responded to each item of the questionnaire by using a Likert scale. 150 questionnaires were included in the final analysis after excluding 22 questionnaires with missing data. In order to process information and put items of the questionnaire into categories, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used and five major factors for residential satisfaction in dormitories were extracted according to students’ opinions. Results: Results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between residential satisfaction and physical criteria of interior space and function (r=0.361, P=0.01), management and health services (r=0.475, P=0.01), aesthetics and natural lighting (r=0.498, P=0.01), security and social relationships (r=0.141, P=0.05) and relationship with nature (r=0.225, P=0.01). Conclusion: Based on the findings, we conclude that the evaluation of effective factors on satisfaction in dormitory space may be useful in the designers’ decision to improve the quality of student housing. As a consequence, the conversion of these qualitative criteria into architectural design suggestions is needed to reduce the present problems of students’ dormitories. Key words: environmental psychology, physical spaces, residential satisfaction, student dormitory Quarterly of Applied Psychology, Vol. 13, No. 1(49), Spring 2019, 163-179 ISSN: 2008-4331-eISSN: 2645-3541 Corresponding Author: Received: 24 July 2018 Available Online: m_nazarpour@sbu.ac.ir Accepted: 17 March 2019 22 May 2019 Citation: Nazarpour, M. T., & Norouzian Maleki, S. (2019). Evaluation of factors affecting female students’ satisfaction in residential dormitories. Quarterly of Applied Psychology, 13(1): 163-179.