Factors in the Perception of Crowding

A questionnaire study was conducted to examine the effect of familiarity, ethnicity, sex, age, and social status of other people with whom an individual shares a given space upon the perception of crowding. 50 male and 50 female Americans of Japanese ancestry, born and raised in the United States, served as Ss. 47 male and 47 female Caucasian-Americans also participated in this study. Familiarity and social status were significant for the perception of crowding, regardless of ethnicity and sex. Ethnicity was also significant, except for female Caucasians. Sex was significant only for female Japanese and female Caucasians. The same tendency was observed in male Japanese. Age was not significant for the perception of crowding, except for female Caucasians. Although not convincing, age tended to effect the perception of crowding.