Annoyance to traffic noise and annoyance to air pollution: an orthogonal or co-varying relationship in noise-sensitive individuals?

摘要

Noise-sensitive individuals can be described by two key characteristics. Firstly, they are more likely to pay attention to sound and evaluate it negatively (e.g. as threatening or annoying). Secondly, they have stronger emotional reactions to noise, and consequently, greater difficulty habituating. It has been noted that noise sensitivity correlates with negative effect, a dispositional tendency to negatively evaluate situations and the self. Individuals high in such traits are more likely to report negative features for their environment, and those reporting high levels of noise sensitivity may report greater sensitivity to other sensory stimuli such as smell and scent, bright light and pain. Research investigating the relationship between noise sensitivity and chemical sensitivity, however, failed to uphold the expected relationship between the two classes of stimuli if a common underlying trait such as negative effect is assumed to cause them. Here we report data which examines the relationship between noise sensitivity and annoyance to noise and air pollution. Our results suggest that noise exposure itself drives annoyances ratings in noise sensitive individuals, and not some other non-noise related factor such as personality.