Reduction of Noise Annoyance through Manipulation of Stressor Relevance

Abstract

In order to test the merit of considering noise from an informational viewpoint, 30 Ss were randomly assigned to either a high task-involvement (HTI) or low task-involvement (LTI) instruction group and performed pursuit rotor tracking under three conditions of moderate noise stress: task-related noise; task-unrelated noise; and no noise. No performance effects were evidenced. However, HTI Ss reported experiencing greater psychological discomfort under task-unrelated noise as compared with the other two noise conditions. Moreover, comparisons of post-experimental rankings of working condition preference supported this finding.