Please sit with your group

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Please sit with your group
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Group Discussion What makes us feel crowded?

• Have each person in your group describe at
  least 2 situations where they were with a large
  number of people and did or did not feel crowded.
  What makes the difference?
• (see handout for specific discussion questions
  and tasks)

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(No Transcript)
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Montano Adamopoulos (1984)The perception of
crowding in interpersonal situations Affective
and behavioral responses
See handout
How well did your groups conclusions match up
with their findings?
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Key terminology regarding crowding

• Crowding vs. density
• Crowding the negative psychological reactions
  that occur when an individual experiences too
  many people around.
• Density the objective measure of the number of
• people per unit of space.

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Terminology (contd)
Perceived density an individuals estimate of
the number of people per unit of
space. Affective density the emotional response
to perceived density. -----------------------
---------------------------------------------

negative

affect (crowding) Density ? perceived density
affective
density

positive
affect
(functional

density)
putting these terms together
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More terminology Density can vary in 2 ways

• Vary social density keep area the same
  (constant) but change the of people

(Social density doubled)
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Or, we can . . .

• Vary spacial density keep the of people the
  same (constant) but change the area

(Spatial density doubled)
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More terminology Inside vs. outside density

• Inside density ratio of people to space inside
  buildings (usually expressed as average of
  people per room)

(Ave inside density 1.5 people per room)
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• Outside density ratio of people to total area
  (often expressed as average of people per
  square mile)

Country 1990 population
Density City (in millions)
people per sq. mile USA
250.4
69 New York 14.6
11,473 France
56.4 267
Paris 8.7
20,123
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Question Would you rather live in . . .

• On a block of Manhattan that had an outside
  density of 12,500 people per square mile?
• or
• A building in Manhattan that had an inside
  density of 1.2 people per room?
• WHY??

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What are the effects of crowding?
Animal vs. human studies
What kinds of research can we do on animals if we
want to study crowding? How about on humans?
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Animal Studies

• Animal studies have suggested 2 kinds of negative
  outcomes
• physiological stresses, e.g., evidence of
  organ
• damage, changes in hormonal output.
• behavioral stresses, e.g., evidence of
• disruption of normal behavioral patterns.

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Calhouns studies

• Studied behavioral consequences of crowding on
  rats
• In a controlled, natural environment (food, no
  predators), he found that the rat population
  stayed fairly constant

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Calhoun created an artificial environment
Pens 1 4 1 entrance, dominant rat could
control Pens 2 3 2 entrances, dominant rat
could not control
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Behavioral consequences
Pens 1 4 normal mating and pup-rearing
behavior Pens 2 3 behavior breakdown very
crowded conditions, females built poor nests,
many pups died, male rats exhibited
homosexuality, hyperactivity, and heightened
aggressiveness
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Calhoun called the conditions in pens 2 and 3 a
behavioral sink
Behavioral sink occurs when high population
densities exceed the capacity of that species to
maintain normal social relations (usually caused
by non-natural conditions)
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The term behavioral sink became very popular in
the media and was applied (indiscriminately) to
high-density human settings. But . . .

• animal responses to crowding are more
  stereotyped they have less cognitive capacity.
• humans usually have more opportunities
• to leave high density situations and more
• coping strategies.

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Human Studies Some representative findings

• Crowding has been linked with a large number of
  behavioral outcomes. Im going to discuss 2
  areas
• (1) Psychological Stress Mental Health
• (2) Anti-social behaviors
• social pathology
• aggression
• unhelpfulness
• social withdrawal

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Psychological Stress Mental Health

• Expectation high density leads to poorer
• mental health.
• Results Studies have linked both high
• and low density with decreased mental
• health.
• mediating role of social support?

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Anti-Social Behaviors

• Social Pathology Early research suggested a
  clear density social pathology (crime, divorce,
  suicide) relationship.
• Later research suggests this relationship (in
  the U.S.) is less strong, once the effects of
  population size, poverty, education have been
  controlled.

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Anti-Social Behaviors (contd)

• Aggression research evidence suggest that males
  in high density situations are likely to display
  more aggression.
• One possible reason increases in social
• density (as opposed to social density)
• may lead to increased competition for
• resources.

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Anti-Social Behaviors (contd)

• Unhelpfulness research indicates that high
  density tends to create negative attitudes toward
  others which leads people to be less helpful/more
  competitive in their interactions with others.

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Anti-Social Behaviors (contd)

• Social withdrawal research indicates that
  individuals in high density situations often
  withdraw from social interaction.
• Examples of withdrawal behavior
• reading newspaper on crowded bus/train
• avoidance of eye contact
• adopting defensive posture

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Some factors that mediate between density,
crowding and behavioral consequences
Culture
Consequences emotions behaviors stress
?
Density
Crowding
Personal influences Social influences Physical/arc
hitectural influences
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Personal Influences

• Affiliation people who like to be with
• others have higher tolerance for dense
• situations.
• Gender which gender responds more
• negatively to high density?

or
?
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Social Influences

• Behavior of others we feel more crowded
• if we dislike the behavior of those around
  us.
• Provision of Information giving people
• accurate, objective information about
• impending delays seems to reduce stress.

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Physical Influences

• Which of each of the following pairs do you
  think would contribute to feelings of crowding?
• Dorms with long hallways vs. dorms with short
  hallways or suites?
• High ceilings vs. low ceilings?
• Rooms with curved walls vs. rooms with straight
  walls?

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Physical Influences

• Which of each of the following pairs do you
  think would contribute to feelings of crowding?
• Dorms with long hallways vs. dorms with short
  hallways or suites?
• High ceilings vs. low ceilings?
• Rooms with curved walls vs. rooms with straight
  walls?

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Culture as a mediator between crowding and its
behavioral effects

• Research across cultures suggests that high
  density, per se, does not cause personal or
  social pathology
• Example Hong Kong has 4 times the density of
  downtown Toronto but ¼ the
• crime rate.

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Age of culture

• High density social breakdown
• relationship seems highest in younger
• cultures, e.g., American.
• Older cultures may have developed better coping
  strategies for high density situations.

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Examples of cultural coping strategies

• Chinese
• Firm rules about access to others personal
  space.
• Lower level of emotional involvement with
  others.
• Little expectation of auditory privacy.
• Japanese and Dutch
• Hobbies/interests that take up little
  space, e.g., bonsai,
• miniature paintings.