Household crowding and social support: a quasiexperimental analysis.

People often cope with crowded living conditions by socially withdrawing from their housemates. This coping strategy may overgeneralize, influencing social interactions with others outside the home. In a stressful laboratory situation, Ss from crowded homes, in comparison with uncrowded counterparts, are less likely to seek support from a confederate and rate the confederate as less supportive. Moreover, Ss from crowded homes are less likely to offer support to a confederate in need. These differences in social interaction behaviors appear to be attributable to crowded residents' social withdrawal.

[1]  Y. Epstein,et al.  Human response to crowding , 1978 .

[2]  C. Tolsdorf,et al.  Social networks, support, and coping: an exploratory study. , 1976, Family process.

[3]  G. Evans,et al.  Dynamic role of social support in the link between chronic stress and psychological distress. , 1991, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[4]  Robert D. Kerns,et al.  Hostility, Coping and Health , 1993 .

[5]  J. Harvey.  Cognition, social behavior, and the environment , 1981 .

[6]  W. Gove,et al.  Overcrowding in the household : an analysis of determinants and effects , 1985 .

[7]  P. Shrout,et al.  Nonspecific psychological distress and other dimensions of psychopathology. Measures for use in the general population. , 1980, Archives of general psychiatry.

[8]  S. Milgram.  The experience of living in cities. , 1970, Science.

[9]  I. Altman,et al.  Handbook of environmental psychology , 1987 .

[10]  S. Valins,et al.  Architecture and social behavior: Psychological studies of social density , 1977 .

[11]  P. Paulus.  Prison Crowding Research , 1988 .

[12]  A. Vaux.  Social Support: Theory, Research, and Intervention , 1988 .

[13]  W. Schönpflug.  Behavior Economics as an Approach to Stress Theory , 1986 .

[14]  A. Vaux,et al.  The social support appraisals (SS-A) scale: Studies of reliability and validity , 1986 .

[15]  V. Cox,et al.  Prison crowding research: The relevance for prison housing standards and a general approach regarding crowding phenomena. , 1984 .

[16]  R. Kessler,et al.  Perceived support, received support, and adjustment to stressful life events. , 1986, Journal of health and social behavior.

[17]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[18]  M. Appley,et al.  Dynamics of Stress , 1986 .

[19]  Margaret Schneider,et al.  Role of Control and Social Support in Explaining the Stress of Hassles and Crowding , 1992 .

[20]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[21]  Rena L. Repetti,et al.  Social withdrawal as a short-term coping response to daily stressors. , 1992 .

[22]  Residential density and psychological health: the mediating effects of social support. , 1989 .

[23]  A. J. Westaway,et al.  People in Cities , 1984 .

[24]  Alan Vaux,et al.  Support network characteristics associated with support satisfaction and perceived support , 1985 .

[25]  S. Valins,et al.  Architectural Mediation of Residential Density and Control: Crowding and The Regulation Of Social Contact , 1979 .

[26]  S. Saegert,et al.  Residential density, social overload, and social withdrawal , 1978 .

[27]  B. Lakey.  Personal and environmental antecedents of perceived social support developed at college , 1989 .

[28]  John R. Aiello,et al.  Residential Crowding and Design , 1979 .

[29]  G. Evans,et al.  Conceptual and analytic issues in crowding research. , 1992 .

[30]  Sheldon Cohen.  Behavior, Health, and Environmental Stress , 1986 .