Waiting Behavior and Arousal in Different Levels of Crowd Density: A Psychological Experiment with a “Tiny Box”

Abstract

Crowd density, defined as persons per square meter, is a basic measuring unit for describing and analyzing crowd dynamics and for planning pedestrian infrastructure. However, little is known about the relationship between crowd density and psychological stress and well-being. This study uses an experimental approach to determine whether higher crowd densities result in higher levels of stress in participants. In this experiment, which was a case study at the university, participants (N = 29) wait in a wooden box of 1 m2 for three minutes. Two, four, six, or eight participants are present simultaneously in the box. It is varied whether participants are supposed to remain silent or to speak with each other. Stress is conceptualized as arousal and measured as skin conductance level/electrodermal activity (EDA). A questionnaire is administered after the experiment, and the positioning of participants in the box is videotaped. The results show that the correlation between crowd density and physiological arousal is more complex than expected. The specific social situation in the box appears to play a more important role than merely the number of people waiting there. Furthermore, our data indicate a temporal trend: participants seem to adapt to the crowd density in the box. Video data analysis reveals that participants choose their positioning and orientation in the box carefully, but that this social choreography works less smoothly in higher densities. This study shows promising results for using EDA as a measurement of arousal in the context of crowd research. However, the limitations of this method and the experiments conducted are also discussed in detail to further improve this approach.

The connection between stress, density, and speed in crowds

“…The study shows the unsurprising observation that moving in a confined space leads to increased stress experience. Unlike the study by Beermann and Sieben 40 , which found no correlation between stress experience and waiting in varying dense situations, it can be said here that increasing density and thus a reduced amount of space leads to increased stress levels in moving people. One possible explanation for the results arises from the additional cognitive effort required when moving.…”

“…Besides this aspect, it is noticeable that all graphs except for the one with four people in the oval sink at the beginning. A possible explanation for this would be a habituation effect to the proximity to other people, since this feature can also be found in the data of the 'tiny box' by Beermann and Sieben 40 . This habituation is not necessary with four people in the oval, because there is no violation of personal space.…”

“…The two studies presented suggest that personal space violations lead to higher stress responses. However, Beermann and Sieben 40 showed that higher densities do not necessarily lead to higher stress levels. They studied the effect of density on stress levels in a stationary setting by placing 2, 4, 6, or 8 participants in a “tiny box” consisting of 1 m 2 .…”

“…Measuring physiological arousal with EDA is increasingly finding applications in pedestrian dynamics research ( 36 – 40 , see 41 for an overview). One of the first empirical studies on the “personal buffer comfort zone” using EDA was conducted by Engelniederhammer and colleagues 36 .…”

Waiting in crowded places: influence of number of pedestrians, waiting time and obstacles

“…However, recent studies found that increasing densities and the associated violations of personal space do not simply increase the discomfort perceived in those situations. In low densities, where the available space is higher, the discomfort caused by invasion of personal space is higher [ 38 ].…”