Bio-psycho-social correlates of the perceived crowding in different contexts

This paper analyzes the experience of crowding through a biopsychosocial approach to human behavior which empirically joins different dimensions that the literature has analyzed separately. The main aim consists of identifying factors involved in perceived crowding from (a) the emotional response and affective meaning (BIO dimension); (b) the perception of psychological well-being and personality traits (PSYCHO dimension), and (c) sociodemographic characteristics (SOCIO dimension).

761 adults completed an online questionnaire that included an assessment of images representing four high- and low-density functional and residential contexts. The data were analyzed through four hierarchical regressions, one for each spatial context.

Although the results vary depending on the contexts analyzed, the prevalence of the variables from the BIO dimension in functional contexts, as opposed to residential contexts, is highlighted. The latter spaces show greater heterogeneity regarding the explanatory power of the experience of crowding.

The response to crowding experienced in residential environments shows a greater range of variables involved, supporting the idea of these spaces’ greater complexity, insofar as they are psychologically adaptive.