Residential Group Size, Social Interaction, and Crowding

A discussion of some of the soc & psychol'al effects of residing in overloaded soc environments. Corridor-design dormitories on the campus of the State U of New York at Stony Brook require 34 students to share common bathroom & lounge facilities, while suite-design dormitories require 4 or 6 students to share these common facilities. Data presented suggest that the interior architecture of the corridor-design dormitories requires residents to interact with too many others, that interactions too often occur at inconvenient times or with disliked others, & that such a soc'ly overloaded environment leads residents to experience stress & develop potentially stress-reducing behavior. 5 Tables, 2 Figures. Modified HA.