Crowding as a Descriptive Indicator and an Evaluative Standard: Results from 30 Years of Research

This paper examined perceived crowding using 615 evaluation contexts obtained from 181 studies that used a 9-point scale. Four methods for summarizing the crowding scale were highly correlated (r ≥ .90) across all evaluation contexts. Four independent variables (year study was conducted, region of United States, country, specific activity) affected perceived crowding for both the collapsed scale and the mean of the scale. One factor, specific location of the encounter, only affected perceived crowding for the percentages, not the mean. Consumptive versus nonconsumptive activities had no effect on perceived crowding. Using capacity judgment standards, 40% of the 615 evaluation contexts were in the suppressed crowding category, 16% were over capacity and 9% were greatly over capacity.