Abstract
A number of recent studies of the effects of high densities on people have suggested that it is not density per se that results in perceptions of crowding and negative social and affective responses. Rather these responses are related to the experience of excessive social encounters and exposure to more social information than a person can handle cogni-tively (e.g., Baum & Koman, 1976; Langer & Saegert, 1977; Saegert, Mackintosh, & West, 1975). These experiences are characterized by the term social overload.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eastern Psychological Association Conference, April, 1976. This paper was previously published in Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 253-272. Copyright 1978 by Plenum Publishing Corporation.
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© 1979 Plenum Press, New York
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McCarthy, D.P., Saegert, S. (1979). Residential Density, Social Overload, and Social Withdrawal. In: Aiello, J.R., Baum, A. (eds) Residential Crowding and Design. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2967-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2967-1_5
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