Social density: Its effects on behaviors and perceptions of preschoolers

The effects of social density on the behaviors and perceptions of 5-year-old children in four- and eight-person groups were investigated. In addition, differential effects of density for sex and for preferred personal space were examined. From a factor analysis of observed behaviors and self-reported perceptions, five factors emerged:Activity-Aggression-Anger, Positive Interactions, Distress-and-Nonplay, Feeling Bad, andAvoidance. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed; significant main effects were found for density and for sex. A univariate analysis of variance for each factor demonstrated that in the crowded condition there was significantly moreActivity-Aggression-Anger, moreDistress-and-Nonplay and fewerPostive Interactions than in the uncrowded condition. In the high density condition the frequency ofActivity-Aggression-Anger for boys increased significantly more than it did for girls. No effects for density on Avoidance were found, and there were no differential effects for density on preferred personal space. Several indications of developmental differences in crowding effects were found when the present findings are compared with those of other studies.