The Influence of Crowding on Society Lack of Crowding –Hutterites Crowding –Cemetery plots in Singapore –Family planning programs in Singapore –One-child rule in China –Tokyo subway

Perceptions of crowding can be influenced by our culture and our previous life experiences.

Models of Crowding Stokol’s equilibrium model Freedman’s drive energization model Milgram’s cognitive overload model Esser’s brain evolution model

Stokol’s Equilibrium Model Most psychological and testable model Involves interaction of situation/environment and internal factors (e.g., personality, needs, motivation) –Uses phenomenological (subjective) reports –Density/crowding distinction Crowding = psychological label of environment as having many people in it (subjective) Density = physical measure of the number of people relative to the amount of space in an environment (objective)

Personal Attributes Personality traits Momentary drive states Intelligence & other skills Environmental Qualities Physical Social Amount & status configuration of power space Stressors Noise Heat Exposure time Experience of Stress Psychological Physiological Response to stress

Freedman’s Drive Energization Model Background Historical Theory –“Co-action” or drive energization –Hullian learning theory E = H x D Freedman’s Drive Energization Model –Bottom line: Crowding raises drive level

Milgram’s Cognitive Overload Model Based on G. Simmel’s model of urbanism –City people have blasé attitude –Likened to a computer that can only handle so much input

Milgram’s Cognitive Overload Model: Reactions to Overload Allocate less time to each input (brusque manner) Disregard low priority inputs Redrawn boundaries in social transactions—shift overload to others Receptor is blocked prior to entrance into system (unlisted telephone numbers) Filtering devices diminish intensity of inputs (answering machines) Creation of special institutions to absorb inputs/shield the individual

Milgram’s Cognitive Overload Model Problem: It’s not predictive! –No operational definition of overload –What happens when people experience overload? –Does overload differ by type of input (e.g., visual, auditory, etc.)?

Lofland’s Privacy Model: Symbolic Transformations Rules for urban behaviour: –Minimize expressivity –Minimize body contact –Sit away from others –Minimize eye contact with strangers –When in doubt, flee –Disattend, pretend not to notice deviants Source: Lofland, L. H. (1973). A world of strangers: Order and action in urban public space. New York: Basic Books

Esser’s Brain Evolution Model Crowding is overstimulation of the nervous system Based on Maclean’s brain evolution model Oldest section 1) brain stem (crowding due to overload) 2) limbic system (crowding when stimuli clash with expectations) 3) neocortical (posthetic) brain (crowding due to excessive novelty in stimuli) Newest section

Methods for Studying Crowding Abnormal Populations Ethology Lab Studies

Problems with Studying Abnormal Populations No phenomenological reports possible when studying psychotic patients Different diagnostic groups may react differently to various environmental conditions (confounding variable) Limited adaptive mechanisms in institutionalized individuals Poor external validity (generalizability) Institutionalization in itself may produce peculiar behaviour

Limits of Ethology Definition: the study of animal behaviour, especially with reference to habitat Role of Ethology in Social Science –Apply the methodology, not the results Animal resources are much more limited than human resources No phenomenological reports possible with animals –Heuristic value in stimulating research

Calhoun’s Research on Overcrowding in Rats Impossibility of crowding in nature over a long time period as a result of population regulating forces: –Territorial behaviour –Relationship between weight and fertility in females

Behavioural Sink (Syndrome of Crowding Effects) Dominance hierarchy Pansexuality (multiple copulations, homosexual behaviour) Faulty maternal care given to pups Passive, withdrawn behaviour of submissive male rats Adrenal gland enlargement Generalization to humans?

Generalizability Problems of Laboratory Studies Limited time variable Weaker manipulations than real world crowding Projective/simulational research may be inappropriate Sex of subject is frequently confounded withsex of the group