The Biology and Psychology of Crowding
in Man and Animals A Of the great myriad
of problems which man and world face today, there are three significant trends
which stand above all others in importance: the unprecedented population growth
throughout the world—a net increase of 1,400,000 people per week—and all of its
associations and consequences; the increasing urbanisation of these people, so
that more and more of them are rushing into cities and urban areas of the world;
and the tremendous explosion of communication and social contact throughout the
world, so that every part of the world is now aware of every other part. All of
these trends are producing increased crowding and the perception of
crowding. B It is important to emphasise at the outset
that crowding and density are not necessarily the same. Density is the number of
individuals per unit area or unit space. It is a simple physical measurement.
Crowding is a product of density, communication, contact, and activity. It
implies a pressure, a force, and a psychological reaction. It may occur at
widely different densities. The frontiersman may have felt crowded when someone
built a homestead a mile away. The suburbanite may feel relatively uncrowded in
a small house on a half-acre lot if it is surrounded by trees, bushes and a
hedgerow, even though he lives under much higher physical density than did the
frontiersman. Hence, crowding is very much a psychological and ecological
phenomenon, and not just a physical condition. C A
classic crowding study was done by Calhoun (1962), who put rats into a physical
environment designed to accommodate 50 rats and provided enough food, water, and
nesting materials for the number of rats in the environment. The rat population
peaked at 80, providing a look at cramped living conditions. Although the rats
experienced no resource limitations other than space restriction, a number of
negative conditions developed: the two most dominant males took harems of
several female rats and occupied more than their share of space, leaving other
rats even more crowded; many females stopped building nests and abandoned their
infant rats; the pregnancy rate declined; infant and adult mortality rates
increased; more aggressive and physical attacks occurred; sexual variation
increased, including hyper-sexuality, inhibited sexuality, homosexuality, and
bisexuality. D Calhoun’s results have led to other
research on crowding’s effects on human beings, and these research findings have
suggested that high density is not the single cause of negative effects on
humans. When crowding is defined only in terms of spatial density (the amount of
space per person), the effects of crowding are variable. However, if crowding is
defined in terms of social density, or the number of people who must interact,
then crowding better predicts negative psychological and physical
effects. E There are several reasons why crowding makes
us feel uncomfortable. One reason is related to stimulus overload—there are just
too many stimuli competing for our attention. We cannot notice or respond to all
of them. This feeling is typical of the hurried mother, who has several children
competing for her attention, while she is on the phone and the doorbell is
ringing. This leaves her feeling confused, fatigued and yearning to withdraw
from the situation. There are strong feelings of a lack of privacy—being unable
to pay attention to what you want without being repeatedly interrupted or
observed by others. F Field studies done in a variety of
settings illustrate that social density is associated with negative effects on
human beings. In prison studies, males generally became more aggressive with
increases in density. In male prison, inmates living in conditions of higher
densities were more likely to suffer from fight. Males rated themselves as more
aggressive in small rooms (a situation of high spatial density), whilst the
females rated themselves as more aggressive in large rooms (Stokols et al.
1973). These differences relate to the different personal space requirements of
the genders. Besides, Baum and Greenberg found that high density leads to
decreased attraction, both physical attraction and liking towards others and it
appears to have gender differences in the impact that density has on attraction
levels, with males experiencing a more extreme reaction. Also, the greater the
density is, the less the helping behaviour. One reason why the level of helping
behaviour may be reduced in crowded situations links to the concept of diffusion
of responsibility. The more people that are present in a situation that requires
help, the less often help is given. This may be due to the fact that people
diffuse responsibility among themselves with no-one feeling that they ought to
be the one to help. G Facing all these problems, what are
we going to do with them The more control a person has over the crowded
environment the less negatively they experience it, thus the perceived crowding
is less (Schmidt and Keating). The ability to cope with crowding is also
influenced by the relationship the individual has with the other people in the
situation. The high density will be interpreted less negatively if the
individual experiences it with people he likes. One of the main coping
strategies employed to limit the impact of high density is social withdrawal.
This includes behaviours such as averting the gaze and using negative body
language to attempt to block and potential intrusions. —The Ohio Journal of Science The most effective way to reduce the effect of high density on human beings is ______.