A study on formation of social standards

Based on an analysis of the relation between rate of passengers lining up for boarding a train and degree of congestion

Abstract

Within the human society, there prevail shared standards that we demand of each other and that are different from rules/regulations wherein violation of any of the given rules/regulations leads to punishment; these standards are created by the members of the society, as they are either beneficial or required for the given society. Moreover, shared standards are applied as social standards only through the will of the people. Lining up for boarding a train on a railway platform can also be considered as a kind of social standard wherein each passenger places a value on “waiting in a queue to board a train.” This study examined the relationship between the degree of congestion (crowding) in a given location as a factor in the formation of such social standards. It surveyed the ratio of people lining up for trains on railway platforms on several days across different time intervals at various stations in Tokyo. The results revealed that there are different ratios for specific conditions and standards, such as the degree of congestion (crowding) in the given location, that are associated with the willingness of the passengers to line up in an attempt to board the train that may be related to the formation of standards in the society.