In Pilot Study 2, we wanted to investigate the influence of warmth cues on the subsequent evaluation of people's *own* houses. According to our pilot study, experiencing coldness leads to lower ratings of communality of an unknown house. We wanted to investigate whether the need for affiliation mediates the effect of warmth (vs. cold) cues on the ratings of people's homes. In this study, we first wanted to investigate this effect by using a warm (vs. cold) cup on perception of one's own house. But, Sixsmith (1986) and Dove (1961) explain that one's home can serve as an communal sharing relationship, with which they can affiliate as if it was a close other. Their own homes may thus already have an affiliative property, and simply being in the confines of one's own home leads to an activation of the communality of the house (based on our factor analysis, we may investigate/explore the effect on the factors of perceived quality and attractiveness, if they are indeed different in the factor analysis. On the basis of our earlier research, we did not expect this to happen). ## Specific hypotheses Pilot Study 2 ## - Hypothesis 1: people who have just touched a cold (vs. warm) cup would experience a higher need for affiliation (NFA). - Hypothesis 2: people who have just touched a cold (vs. warm) cup will rate their homes more positive on communality. We also explored effects on perceived quality and attractiveness. - Hypothesis 3: We expect the effect in Hypothesis 2 to be mediated by NFA. We also explored the effects on perceived quality and attractiveness.