Differential effects of spatial crowding and sex on behavior

This study examined the nature of the interaction of the spatial variables, number of people in a group and density, with sex of subject as it affects the experience of crowding and behavior. A 3 X 2 factorial design was employed; the independent variables were spatial crowding and sex, and the dependent variables, measures of performance on a memory task, perceived comfort, and perception of the environment. 90 males and 90 females were tested in homogeneous sex groups in one of three conditions: (a) 30 subjects per group, (b) 6 subjects sitting as close together as (a), and (c) 6 subjects per group sitting far apart. The major finding was the differential effect of the spatial variables on males and females for accuracy of perception of some aspects of the environment; for males, number of people in the group was the critical factor, for females density was the critical factor. Other results indicated that all subjects, regardless of sex, felt less comfortable in large groups than in small ones but that density influenced the judgment of how many people could fit comfortably in the room. There was no significant effect of the spatial variables on memory. One implication of this study is that future research on crowding should concentrate more on interactive effects rather than single factors.