Some Effects of Crowding in a Prison Environment1

Inmates at a federal correctional institution were examined for their criterion of what constitutes overcrowding. In general, inmates who were housed under highly crowded conditions exhibited less tolerance of overcrowding than did those who were housed under relatively less crowded conditions. Higher crowding also yielded more negative affective responses to the physical environment. This relationship existed only with respect to a social-density measure of crowding and not for a spatial-density measure.     

Behavioral and Physiological Consequences of Crowding in Humans1

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of crowding on human performance. Results generally supported the hypothesis that crowding acts as a stressor which may be mediated by overarousal. Moderate decrements in complex but not simple task performance were found for crowded subjects as compared to uncrowded controls. Poorer performance on a group cooperation task and less tolerance for frustration as an aftereffect of the crowded experience were reported. Crowded subjects in comparison to controls also exhibited significant elevations in blood pressure and pulse rate and manifested additional behavioral indices of stress, which included greater behavioral stereotypes, increased defensive postures, more remarks toward the door of the experimental room, and self reports of greater discomfort and hostility.     

Crowding,Perceived Control,and Behavioral Aftereffects1

A laboratory experiment was conducted in which groups of Ss performed simple and complex tasks for one hour in three conditions of crowding: (1) noncrowded, (2) crowded, (3) crowded-with-perceived-control. Immediately afterward, all groups worked in a noncrowded situation on two additional tasks, one involving frustration tolerance and the other involving quality of proofreading performance. Conditions of crowding had no effect on simple or complex task performance. In the postcrowding situation, however, significant negative behavioral aftereffects were observed for the crowded groups on the frustration tolerance measure, though perceived control ameliorated these aftereffects. There were no significant aftereffects on the prooofreading measure.     

Effects of Crowding in a Student Environment1

Responses to crowding were examined in two student dormitories (Dorm A and Dorm B). Dorm B had more rooms per floor, smaller sized rooms, and a general layout which seemed conducive to a higher level of social stimulation. Students living in Dorm B reported being less involved with their roommates, being in a worse mmod, and experiencing more crowding. The role of crowding in mediating the relationship between type of dormitory as an independent variable and mood and interpersonal relationship as dependent variables was discussed.     

Perceived Control in Prison: Its Relation to Reported Crowding,Stress, and Symptoms1

Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of perceived control in two men's prisons, one housing 181 inmates and the other housing 623 inmates. In both prisons, inmates' perceived control over the environment was found to be significantly related to their ratings of their living accommodations, experienced stress, and physical symptoms, even when type of cell was held constant.     

The Job Search Process: An Attitudinal and Behavioral Analysis

Job search attitudes and behaviors among college students were studied. Major job-seeking factors were identified and discussed in relation to job search experience.     

Ends Over Means: Self-Affirmation Strengthens Attitudinal and Weakens Perceived Control Effects on Behavioral Intention

ABSTRACT

Self-affirmation research suggests that allowing people to affirm important values can improve acceptance of health messages. However, how self-affirmation improves message acceptance is not fully understood. Integrating construal level theory and reasoned action theory, this research tested two hypotheses: first, self-affirmation affects the abstractness of how people construe behavioral choices, and second, self-affirmation influences the associations between intention and its key determinants. Data were obtained from two studies on sunscreen use and flossing (n = 123 college students, and n = 294 adults). Our findings confirmed that self-affirmation induced abstract, high level construals of behaviors in terms of ends rather than means, and that self-affirmation strengthened the impact of attitude on intention and weakened the impact of perceived control.     

Attitudinal and Behavioral Pathways of Deviance in Online Gaming

Using data gathered from a qualitative study of a popular online game, this analysis considers the relationship between online deviance and real deviance, as well as the relationship between social control in the online setting and its subsequent impact on real world beliefs and behaviors. Findings suggest that three pathways of connectivity prevail in the current setting. Each pathway has in common the role of a transition block that promotes the idea of the online community representing “just a game.” The nature of varied interpretations of this concept and their implications are discussed. Implications drawn from findings include proposed further research of online and offline behavioral connectivity, as well as an integration of social control research into existing studies of gaming influence on deviant and criminal behaviors. The importance of the online subculture as a unit deserving of criminological study is discussed.     

Effects of Acute Experimental Crowding1

Recent concern with population growth has begun to stimulate interest in the effect of crowding on humans. This report presents a model of crowding based on the concept of normative expectations concerning appropriate interaction distances. A study of acute experimental crowding was then conducted. Contrary to findings of prior research, the present study found that crowding produced arousal. Subsequent social behavior, however, was mediated by different sex-specific group processes. In general, crowded male groups displayed a competitive, fragmented orientation, whereas crowded women formed cohesive, cooperative groups. Contrary to preliminary expectations, subjects were differentially effected by crowding based on their seating position in the crowded room.     

The Effects of Residential Crowding Experience on Reactivity to Laboratory Crowding and Noise1

Sixty male and 60 female subjects previously classified as high and low on a residential crowding experience scale participated in an experiment involving a 2 × 3 × 2 × 2 (density, noise, crowding experience, gender) factorial design. The research was undertaken primarily to determine the influence of previous residential crowding experience as tapped by the Crowding Experience Scale (CES) on reactivity to the environmental stressors of noise and crowding. The results indicated that exposure to environmental stressors produced a deleterious effect on complex task performance and generated negative affect in the respondents. Interestingly, respondents who had reported high levels of experience with crowding showed relatively more crowding tolerance by performing significantly better on cognitively complex tasks (complex anagrams and story comprehension) and exhibiting more positive affect in conditions of high density as compared to low experience of crowding respondents. Reactions to noise were not influenced by crowding experience. Thus, prior experience of crowding as measured by the CES appears to influence reactivity to density in other settings.     

Behavioral and Attitudinal Correlates of Masculinity: A National Survey of Male Counselors

In this study the authors investigated the relationship between the Male Role Norm Scales (MRNS; Thompson & Pleck, 1987) and gender-related attitudes and behaviors in a sample of 367 male counselors drawn from American Counseling Association (ACA), formerly the American Association for Counseling and Development (AACD), members. Results indicated that this group of men did not, in general, endorse traditional male roles as measured by the MRNS. When a degree of affiliation with these roles was found, however, it was predictive of violence proneness, intimacy style, and degree of perceived similarity to father. Implications for training and counseling are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Attitudinal and Behavioral Measures of Sex Preference

This study examined the relationship between an attitudal and a behavioral measure of sex preference for offspring. In addition to looking at the relationship between these measures, their relationship to other variables was also investigated. Pregnant women and their spouses (N = 56) responded to a questionnaire measure of sex preference, a behavioral measure of sex preference, Bern's Sex Role Inventory, and the Attitudes Towards Women Scale. The behavioral and questionnaire measures of sex preference were significantly related, indicating that in the area of preferred sex of firstborn children, attitudinal measures appear to be highly related to behavioral measures. Contrary to prediction, androgynous and nonandrogyn-ous persons did not differ significantly on preferred sex of child. However, persons with a more positive attitude toward women's movement ideology showed significantly less male preference than persons with less positive attitudes toward women's movement ideology.     

Aspirations and Well-Being in a Prison Setting1

The relationship between the content of goals and well-being depends both on whether goals are congruent with inner psychological needs (Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996a) and whether goals are supported in one's environment. The current study examines how the pursuit of 6 different goals relates to the psychological well-being of maximum security prisoners. The relative centrality of goals supported in prison, such as physical health, was generally positively related to well-being, whereas the pursuit of goals not supported in prison, such as self-acceptance and affiliation, was negatively related to well-being. Discussion focuses on the importance of considering goals in the context of people's environment.     

Effects of Bodily Contact on Reactions to Crowding1

The present study examined the effects of bodily contact in a crowded environment. Initially, the skin conductance levels (SCL) of 160 males and females were obtained during rest and while bursting a balloon. In a subsequent session, subjects in same-sex groups of four were seated for 30 minutes in either (a) a large room, (b) a small room subjected to unavoidable bodily contact, or (c) a small room which was partitioned to either reduce or prevent bodily contact while allowing visual access. Measures of mood, tolerance for frustration, cognitive task performance, and self reports of annoyance and somatic distress were then taken. Results showed that crowding is stressful and that bodily contact makes a significant contribution to the amount of stress experienced for both men and women. In general, crowded subjects forced to touch showed the greatest increases in SCL, felt most annoyed, were most bothered by spatial intrusion during crowding, and had the lowest tolerance for frustration following crowding. Sex differences in mood following crowding and in reaction to the noncrowded environment were observed and appeared to be mediated by differential social concerns.     

Judgments of a Woman's Emotions: The Influence of Observer Attitudes1

The influence that observers' attitudes toward lesbians have on their judgments of a lesbian target's emotional display was examined. In Phase One, college undergraduates' attitudes toward lesbians were measured. In Phase Two, 185 subjects returned and viewed a videotape in which a female target described as a lesbian, a novel individual, or a heterosexual, responded to an interviewer's questions regarding her recent romantic breakup. The subjects then judged the appropriateness of the target's display of 11 emotions. Contrary to predictions, attitudinally negative subjects evaluated the Lesbian target as highly appropriate. The potential applications of this result for social psychologists interested in examining the contact hypothesis, as well as for outgroup members themselves, are discussed.     

Some Effects of Reduction of Extra-Classroom Crowding in a School Environment

The effects of reduced enrollment were studied by examining two architecturally identical schools. One school experienced a 43% reduction in enrollment while the other's enrollment remained constant. Reduction in enrollment had a number of positive benefits, including improved attitudes about the school environment and reduced faculty absenteeism. Findings regarding academic performance were less clear.     

Crowding and stress: 1. Review of variables and theories

Recent empirical research has sometimes failed to support the existence of a direct causal link between human crowding, as measured by objective density indices, and stress effects. It has even been proposed that high density merely intensifies reactions due to other causes, thereby casting basic doubt on the reality of crowding-induced stress. Conceptual issues in crowding research are discussed, and an attempt is made to resolve definitional problems. Theories of crowding are reviewed, suggesting that any plausible theory of crowding effects must take seriously the cognitive mediation of environmental variables, plus the operation of a complex set of personal and interpersonal processes which will determine whether and when high densityis likely to result in stress. These considerations cast doubt on the generalizability of that research which has failed to demonstrate crowding stress effects, and highlight the need for an integration of existing theories, so that predictions of the circumstances where crowding stress is most likely can eventually be made with greater precision.     

间距和语义对阅读障碍儿童拥挤效应的影响

以14名阅读障碍儿童以及与其年龄和阅读水平相匹配的儿童为实验对象,考察了间距和语义对阅读障碍儿童拥挤效应的影响。结果发现阅读障碍儿童受拥挤效应的影响显著大于正常儿童,表明阅读障碍存在视觉加工缺陷;间距和语义均影响阅读障碍儿童的拥挤效应,表明影响阅读障碍儿童拥挤效应的因素既有刺激的低水平视觉特征,也有高水平语言信息;间距与阅读障碍儿童拥挤效应的关系呈U型。     

Conflict Between Firemen and Ghetto Dwellers: Environmental and Attitudinal Factors1

During the past few years urban fire companies have responded to a vastly increased number of false alarms, especially from lower income areas. In a preliminary attempt to understand this phenomenon, two studies were conducted. In the first, several environmental variables, in addition to average neighborhood income, reported harrassments of firemen, and type of alarm box, were correlated with false alarm frequencies for randomly selected alarm boxes in lower income sections of Brooklyn. Results of a step-wise multiple regression analysis indicated that (a) a linear combination of six environmental variables accounts for 73% of the variance in false alarms, (b) this relationship is not due simply to differences in average neighborhood income, and (c) false alarms are associated geographically with harassments. The results suggested that false alarms should be interpreted as expressions of protest. The second study explored the beliefs and attitudes of ghetto residents and revealed that young nonwhites showed most hostility to the fire department. Although most respondents expressed positive attitudes toward firemen, many believed they do unnecessary damage; and some respondents linked this with racism. Other causes for anger not directly related to the fire department were also mentioned, including the environmental factors emphasized in the first study. The findings raise several questions amenable to social psychological investigation and suggest ways to reduce false alarms, but it seems unlikely that the problem can be solved until deeper racial and class antagonisms are reduced.