Exploring the Relationships Between Sound Acceptability, Emotional Reactivity, and Personality

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between emotional reactivity (ER), measures of personality, and sound acceptability (SA) in typically hearing young adults and to determine whether ER and specific personality traits were related to overall SA. Method: This exploratory survey study included measures of personality, ER, and SA ratings. Fifty-three typically hearing young adults (18–30 years old) participated. Results: Relationships between general ER and personality traits were evaluated. Positive associations were noted between reports of positive reactivity and extraversion and agreeableness and general negative reactivity and neuroticism. A small negative association between agreeableness and negative reactivity was observed. Relationships between ER, personality traits, and SA were evaluated. The personality trait agreeableness was positively related to SA ratings for transient and episodic loud sounds and episodic average sounds, and negative reactivity was negatively associated with SA ratings for transient loud sounds. Regression analysis indicated that whereas negative ER explained some variance of SA ratings, agreeableness did not further explain any variance in SA ratings. Conclusions: This study highlighted the close relationships between some personality traits and ER and demonstrated that aspects of these traits impact perceived SA. For these typically hearing young adults, SA ratings were driven by different combinations of loudness and duration of the sound and further influenced by ER. Although this study focused on typically hearing young adults, the results suggest that evaluating ER could help in identifying those who might have reduced SA. These findings provide a rationale for further investigation of the impact of these variables on amplified SA for amplification users.