This study investigates the variation in attachment to place and dwelling with the variation in caste, educational qualification and income with particular focus on people displaced by development projects. Five constructs have been used as the measure of attachment, on which the variation has been investigated. The findings are based on the responses of families living in 3 villages which were being displaced for a power plant project in the state of Orissa, India. Significant difference was found in the attachment to the natural setting, dwelling, place identity and place dependence between the higher and lower castes, and between respondents of varying educational qualification and incomes. However no statistically significant variation (at α = 0.05) was found in the community attachment and cultural identity of respondents of different educational qualification and income. Though variation in attachment has been studied in previous researches, this study focuses on project affected people and is an attempt to understand the variation in losses perceived by people of different social and economic status.
