Perception of residential crowding,classroom experiences,and student health

The present research is based on a typology of crowding experiences incorporating two main dimensions: neutral-personal thwartings and primary-secondary environments. The thwarting dimension concerns the degree to which crowding experiences are associated with spatial inconveniences, alone, or with spatial as well as social constraints. The environmental dimension relates to the type of setting in which crowding experiences occur. A major assumption of this typology is that crowding experiences involving social conflict will be more intense and disruptive to the individual than those in which interpersonal conflict is minimal. The reported study examined the relationship between college students' evaluations of the physical amenity, social climate, and crowdedness of their residential environments, on the one hand, and their sensitivity to crowding in a classroom situation, their academic performance, and the frequency of their visits to the campus health center, on the other. Results indicated that perceived residential crowding and negative perceptions of residential social climate were strongly associated with increased sensitivity to crowding in a classroom situation, impaired course performance, and visits to the student health center. The implications of these correlational findings for future field-experimental research are discussed.