Individual differences in reactions to noise: A longitudinal study in a college dormitory.

This paper presents an overview of the literature on stress and the environment using a basic attitude change paradigm. The stress literature is organized around characteristics of source, transmission, and audience variables. Prominent models of stress are reviewed, along with classifications of stressors themselves. The appraisal of stressors is considered as a transmission variable, affected by such factors as attitudes towards the stressor, perception of risk and danger, and perceived control. Research on dispositional variables is also reviewed and the stress response is discussed.

Stress and the Environment

Environmental noise and health: An integrated research perspective

The social context of noise exposure is a codeterminant of noise annoyance. The present study shows that fairness of the exposure procedure (sound management) can be used as an instrument to reduce noise annoyance. In a laboratory experiment (N=117) participants are exposed to aircraft sound of different sound pressure level (SPL: 50 vs 70dBA)—which is experienced as noise—while they work on a reading task. The exposure procedure (fair versus neutral) is modeled in line with findings from social justice theory. In the fair condition, participants can voice their preference for a certain sound sample, although they cannot deduce whether their preference is granted. In the neutral condition, participants are not asked to voice their preference. Results show the predicted interaction effect of sound pressure level and procedure on annoyance: Annoyance ratings are significantly lower in the fair condition than in the neutral condition, but this effect is found only in the 70dB condition. When the SPL is consi...

Noise within the social context: Annoyance reduction through fair procedures

This report describes all social surveys of residents' reactions to environmental noise in residential areas that have been located in English language publications from 1943 to December of 2000. A total of 521 surveys are described. The surveys are indexed by country, noise source, and date of survey. The publications and reports from each survey are listed in a bibliography.

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S S renson

Papers

On the Influence of Attitudes to the Source on Annoyance Reactions to Noise