Factors in the Perception of Crowding

Crowding and Behavior in Japanese Public Spaces: Some Observations and Speculations

“…This is very congruent with Iwata's (1975) finding which suggests that crowded situations induce negative feelings in the United States sample. When the crime rate is high in a high density society, it may be quite difficult for us to maintain a high adaptation to crowding.…”

“…This seems to be congruent with Iwata's (1975) finding which implies that crowded situations generally do not induce negative feelings in Japanese. This implication further suggests that high density per se in public or semipublic spaces is less important in the Japanese as a determinant of crowding.…”

“…On the other hand, when we share the space with people we are less intimate with, or strangers, it is assumed that people in collectivistic cultures are more liable to experience crowding than are people in individualistic cultures. Iwata (1975) found that Japanese males generally have a greater sensitiveness in the perception of crowding than do United States males when both are imagined to share an elevator with strangers. This finding is very congruent with the assumption mentioned above, that people in collectivistic cultures are more liable to experience crowding than are people in individualistic cultures.…”

“…Iwata (1974b) conducted a study in the United States in which both Caucasian-Americans and Americans of Japanese stock volunteered as participants. Another study by Iwata (1977) was conducted in Japan and used Japanese female undergraduates as participants.…”

“…On the other hand, there is another study which is relevant to the connotations of the condition of being crowded. Iwata (1975) conducted a questionnaire study in which each participant was imagined to share an elevator with a) familiar male adults, b) familiar female adults, c) adult male strangers or d) adult female strangers. Participants were male students or temporary residents in a dormitory of the University of Hawaii.…”