According to Aronson, Wilson, and Akert (2005), ôMore than 6 billion human beings inhabit the earthùmore than the total number of persons who have ever lived beforeö (p. 506). As the worldÆs population grows by a quarter million human beings annually, population density increases. This is not only stressful on natural resources and food supply, but it is stressful on human beings when crowding occurs. ôCrowding stressö is define by Csermely (2005, p. 1) as ôa type of psychosocial stress induced by an increased density of population.ö Overcrowding results in crowding stress that generates changes at the behavioral and psychological levels. This research will examine the deleterious impact of crowding stress from increased population density.
The literature is pervaded by research that demonstrates the negative impact of crowding stress on human beings and other animals. Aronson et al. (2005) provide research results on animals that show crowding stress effects their reproduction, parenting, and vulnerability to disease. Studies on overcrowded prisons show a higher rate of disciplinary problems, suicides, and overall death rate than less populated prisons (Aronson et al., 2005). Studies on students in crowded dorms showed that many developed ôlearned helplessness,ö a concept related to control (Aronson et al., 2005, p. 506).
Aronson et al. (2005) maintain there are different ways of handling crowding stress across cultures but all cultures seem to suffer from crowding stress to the degree of control they believe they have or not in escaping the crowded conditions. The feeling of lack of control increases the risk of crowding stress and often leads to the condition known as learned helplessness. As Emanoil (1999) explains, ôA lot of research suggests that if people are chronically exposed to something they canÆt control, they develop learned helplessness, which means they come to believe they canÆt control ...