THE MORE (MEN), THE LESS MERRY - SOCIAL DENSITY, SOCIAL BURDEN, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT

Two questionnaire studies in rural Georgia examined how social and spa tial density were related to social burden and social support. Results from the first study, which had 116 female respondents (82% white, 16 % black, 2% Hispanic), indicated that high social density of males was related to less liking of the house and more psychological distress. Based on Study 1, it was hypothesized that high social density of male s was related to less received social support whereas social density o f females was related to more received social support. In partial supp ort of that hypothesis, results from the second study, which involved 94 males and 105 females (83% white, 17% black), revealed that receive d emotional support was positively correlated with social density of f emales in the household. Also, consistent with Study 1, females consid ered males to be more burdensome than females. In addition, results fr om Study 2 suggested that males and females respond differently to soc ial density.