Personal Control and Crowding Stress

Abstract

Current theoretical explanations of crowding stress have suggested that peronal control may be an important psychological determinant of reactions to the physical environment. Two field surveys were conducted to test the relationship of environment stress and crowding annoyance with personal control and to examine whether this conception of crowding may have cross-cultural generality. In the first study, 282 patrons in a bookstore varying between low and high density were surveyed in regard to perceived control, self-reported stress, and crowding annoyance. Simple correlations and multiple regressions analysis supported the hypothesized relationship for most elements of personal control. In a second study, 185 Singaporean high school students were surveyed relative to residential crowding as a cross-cultural extension. Support was found for the hypothesized relationship between personal control with crowding annoyance and stress. The implications of these results for drawing cross-cultural similarities are discussed.