Household crowding and reproductive behavior.

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Demography
• Urban Studies

Background:

• Ethological studies link animal population density to behaviors limiting population size.
• Previous North American studies found modest, selective evidence of crowding's effects on human behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of household crowding on marital sexual relations.
• To examine the influence of crowding on the desire for additional children.
• To assess the relationship between crowding and fetal/child loss in Bangkok.

Main Methods:

• Examined objective and subjective dimensions of household crowding.
• Focused on a population in Bangkok, Thailand, experiencing a wide range of crowding levels.

Main Results:

• Both objective and subjective crowding had only modest effects on sexual relations.
• Crowding demonstrated modest, selective impacts on the desire for more children.
• Limited selective effects of crowding were observed on fetal and child loss.

Conclusions:

• Household crowding in Bangkok has selective, rather than pervasive, impacts on sexual and reproductive behaviors.
• Findings suggest that the relationship between crowding and human reproductive outcomes is complex and context-dependent.