A Test of the Urban Overload Hypothesis

This paper briefly discusses three studies aimed at exploring the overload hypothesis posited by Stanley Milgram. That hypothesis suggests that impoverished social interaction in the city is an adaptation to overload of interpersonal contacts. The three studies examine various aspects of the phenome...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author McCauley, Clark R
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published 1970
Subjects
Behavior Patterns
Comparative Analysis
Crowding
Field Studies
Interpersonal Relationship
Rural Urban Differences
Social Relations
Surveys
Urban Environment
Urban Problems
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Summary:This paper briefly discusses three studies aimed at exploring the overload hypothesis posited by Stanley Milgram. That hypothesis suggests that impoverished social interaction in the city is an adaptation to overload of interpersonal contacts. The three studies examine various aspects of the phenomenon using different methodologies. Comparing city and town dweller behaviors, one survey indicates that city respondents have fewer but longer contacts with friends and acquaintances, both by telephone and face-to-face. In terms of feelings of overload, city and town both evince low levels of feeling overloaded with interpersonal contact. Another study, of an experimental nature, indicates that interaction with a stranger is avoided in the city as opposed to encouraged in a suburb or small town. These studies suggest that Milgram's hypothesis is too general and undifferentiated. (SJL)