Interaction Level and Acquaintance as Mediators of Density Effects

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Abstract
147 subjects (college students), in mixed-sex groups of 6, spent 30 minutes in an experimental situation in which 2 factors hypothesized to affect perceived crowding and stress, room size and level of interpersonal interaction and interference, were orthogonally varied. Also varied were 2 subject factors, sex and previous acquaintance with other group members, resulting in a 24 design. The small room-high interaction condition did not lead to stress (measured both behaviorally and by verbal scales) as hypothesized, but rather to a view of the situation as amusing or comical. The large room-low interaction condition, conversely, was stressful, primarily because it was extremely boring. Previously acquainted subjects reacted with dissatisfaction to both the very low and very high interaction conditions, while unacquainted subjects did not generally respond differentially to condition. Perceptions of crowding were influenced both by density and by interaction level.

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