Activating pathogen threat consistently made dense social environments seem more crowded, & consistently generated more negative affect toward these environments; people were more likely to choose uncrowded environments

The infectiousness of crowds: Crowding experiences are amplified by pathogen threats. Iris M. Wang, Joshua M. Ackerman. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 31st annual meeting. Boston 2019. http://tiny.cc/aa1w6y

Abstract: In our everyday lives, we may find ourselves in situations where many people are congregated, like on a subway car during rush hour, or in a dance club on a Saturday night. People sometimes perceive these social situations as unpleasantly crowded. Previous work has demonstrated that incidental factors such as being hungry or hot increase perceptions of crowdedness. Yet, crowds afford additional threats and opportunities to individuals, ones that exist because other people can act as agents (even unwitting ones) of harm and safety. Here, we demonstrate that crowding perceptions and evaluations depend on specific, active threats for perceivers. Eight studies (combined N = 2056) test whether infectious disease threats, which are associated with crowded conditions, increase negative reactions and avoidant behavioral intentions. Across studies, activating pathogen threat consistently made dense social environments seem more crowded, and consistently generated more negative affect toward these environments. Finally, under pathogen threat, people were more likely to choose to inhabit uncrowded environments. These outcomes were threat-specific. That is, they were more influenced by pathogen threat relative to other threats of physical safety. These studies suggest that interpretations of social environments depend on the unique threats and opportunities those environments afford to individuals.