LEC.

4 / Aspects related to Question (1): High Density & Crowding

FALL 2022/2023
Dr. Hala Ghanem

High Density and Crowding

Human Behavior In Architecture

Fall 2021

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 High Density and Crowding
• Introduction
• People should have sufficient personal space and territorial control
over what is important to them

Personal space + Territoriality = Privacy

• Too much privacy leads to feelings of social isolation, and too little
privacy leads to subjective feelings of crowding.
• Crowded conditions lead to negative behaviors because they are
related casually to "social overload".
• The perceived rather than actual level of density determine our
behavioral response

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 High Density and Crowding
• Introduction
• High density affects negatively human behavior

Hong Kong. Some flats are 3 meter square

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 High Density and Crowding
• Introduction

Mongolia. Sparsely populated country

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 High Density and Crowding
• Distinction between high density and crowding

• High density: a physical state involving potential inconveniences

( loss of control, stimulus overload, and lack of behavioral freedom
or privacy) which may or may not be prominent to a person in the
situation.

• Crowding: a psychological state characterized by stress and having

motivational properties (attempts to reduce discomfort), crowding
occurs when the negative aspects of high density are prominent.

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 High Density and Crowding
• Distinction between high density and crowding

CROWDING HIGH DENSITY

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 High Density and Crowding
• Distinction between high density and crowding

• High density: a physical state involving potential inconveniences

( loss of control, stimulus overload, lack of behavioral freedom,
resources or privacy) which may or may not be prominent to a
person in the situation.
• Prominence of the conditions depends on:
– Individual differences between people (gender, personality, age)
– Situational conditions (what the person is doing, time in the
setting, presence of other stressors)
– Social conditions (relationships between people, intensity of
interaction)

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 High Density and Crowding
• High Density
• High density can be understood by looking at two terms: high social
density, and high spatial density
• High Social density: having too many other individuals with whom
one must interact(number of people changes in the same size space)
• High Spatial density: having too little space (number of people
stays the same, but space shrinks)
• Studies on non humans was valuable to understand effects of high
density on humans:
– It possible to observe nonhumans as they reproduce and become
overpopulated in a much shorter period of time
– It is easier to study nonhumans physiological and behavioral
responses without disturbing the process being monitored

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 High Density and Crowding
• Feeling the effects of density
• Affect:
• High social density may cause negative affective states (bad mood)
and anxiety
• Negative feelings caused by high spatial density may be stronger in
males than in females
– Males have greater personal space needs than do females
– Female socializing is more affiliative (affinity for others at close
range)
– Males socializing is more competitive (others at close proximity
a source of threat)
• Women sometimes approach high-density settings in more
cooperative ways than do men

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 High Density and Crowding
• Feeling the effects of density
• Physiological arousal:
• Higher pulse rate and blood pressure is related to high density
conditions
• Males under high density shopping (mall) conditions have higher
stress compared to females who showed no stress
• High density conditions in transportation media leads to stress
– Regardless of high density, passengers boarding an empty
transportation media at the first stop had lower stress (they had
more control; were able to chose where to sit and with whom)
compared to passengers boarding halfway to the final destination
• Illness:
• Living under high density conditions can have negative health
consequences ( somewhat inconsistent)
• Disease can spread more quickly in high density conditions

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 High Density and Crowding
• Feeling the effects of density
• Physiological arousal:

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 High Density and Crowding
• Effects of density on social behavior
• Attraction
• High density reduces attraction (less liking for people and places)
• Long term density; dormitory students living in triples were less
satisfied with their roommates than those living in doubles
• High spatial density for males reduces attraction

• Withdrawal
• Withdrawal may be associated with high levels of social contact, it
functions as a response for high density, a means of coping or an
aftereffect.
• Withdrawal responses include: less eye contact, head movements
away from others, maintenance of greater interpersonal distance

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 High Density and Crowding
• Effects of density on social behavior
• Aggression
• Concerning aggression behavior the findings are inconsistent except
for certain populations (prisoners, dementia elderly residents)
• High density increases inmates aggression and disruptive behaviors
for dementia elderly residents

• Effects of density on task performance

• Simple task performance was not reduced under high density
conditions
• Complex task performance was reduced under high density
conditions

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 High Density and Crowding
• Crowding

• Crowding: a psychological state characterized by stress and having

motivational properties (attempts to reduce discomfort), crowding
occurs when the negative aspects of high density are prominent.

• Population density does not determine crowding.

• Crowding is a subjective term
• Crowding cannot be measured or calculated

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 High Density and Crowding
• Crowding

• Experience of crowding in any environment depends on

• 1. Perceived level of control
• 2. Purpose of being in it
• 3. Expectation of it
• 4. Others sharing it
• 5. personality

• Three components of crowding

• 1. Situation 2. Emotion (effect)
• 3. Behaviour produced by the emotion

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 High Density and Crowding
• Architectural mediators to crowding
• Greater ceiling height is associated with less crowding for males
• Rooms with well designed corners cause less crowding than rooms
with curved walls
• Rectangular rooms cause less crowding than square rooms with the
same area
• Rooms that contain visual escape (window) are rated as less
crowded
• High rise buildings are associated with greater feelings of
crowdedness and less perceived control, safety , privacy and
satisfaction with relations with other residents than low rise
buildings

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 High Density and Crowding
• Architectural mediators to crowding

• Positioning furniture in the center of the room as opposed to having

it arranged at the side of the room was perceived as more crowded
• Brightness provided by wall and accent colors or appropriate light
sources leads to less perceived crowding
• The presence of visual distractions(pictures on walls, advertisements
of transportation vehicles ) leads to more perceived space
• Sociofugl seating arrangement is associated with less crowding
• Sociopetal seating arrangement is associated with more crowding
(unless relations between interactants is good)
Sociofugal: when spaces, buildings, rooms, furniture discourage interaction and social contact.

Sociopetal: when spaces, buildings, rooms, furniture are designed to bring people together.

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