CHRONIC STRESS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING - EVIDENCE FROM THAILAND ON HOUSEHOLD CROWDING

This paper examines the effect of one form of chronic stress-household crowding-on psychological well-being, as measured by multiple inverse indicators of psychological well-being. We rely on data from a large (n = 2017) random sample of households in Bangkok, Thailand, a context that has a higher level and broader range of crowding than typically found in the United States. Objective household crowding is found to b e detrimental to psychological well-being, controlling for a number of background characteristics. The effect of objective crowding is media ted by subjective crowding, which has strong, consistent and direct de trimental effects on well-being. There is no evidence of a gender effe ct. Extended family households are not uncommon in Bangkok, but the ef fects of objective and subjective crowding are similar in both two- an d three-generation households, as well as in one- and multiple-couple households. The argument that subjective crowding is an effect, rather than a cause, of psychological well-being is examined and rejected. T he findings suggest that crowding, as a chronic source of stress, cons titutes a major threat to psychological well-being. Although the empir ical analyses are based on data from one city, we frame the issue of h ousehold crowding in a historical and theoretical context in order to suggest in which cultural settings household crowding is most likely t o have detrimental effects on psychological well-being.