How Disgust Shapes Perceptions of Density

New research suggests a surprising reason why some people dislike density: disgust.

Michael Hooper, explaining his work in an opinion piece in Next City, says that in a study published in Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, he found that “Disgust, which evolved to protect people from sources of disease and contamination, is associated with how people perceive density.”

Hooper conducted a study that asked participants score images of different density contexts based on their appeal, as well as to complete the Revised Disgust Scale, a measure of an individual’s disgust sensitivity. “The results show that, for the highest density images shown to participants, there was a statistically significant negative relationship with disgust. This means that people with higher disgust sensitivity found the highest density images significantly less appealing.”

Hooper asserts that these results are important because they reveal the complicated nature of what is often painted as simple elitist NIMBY opposition to new housing and zoning reform. “Ultimately, it will be important for planners, designers and policymakers to consider how urban designs might mitigate the concerns felt by those with higher disgust sensitivity.”

This means that the density debate must be framed in a context that goes beyond the good-bad dichotomy of NIMBY/YIMBY. “Given the increasing importance of densification to the field of urban planning, particularly in the face of climate change, this research serves as a call for further study on the behavioral underpinnings of people’s responses to density.”