oa Geluidhinder: decibels of onrechtvaardige procedures?

Noise Annoyance: Decibels or Unfair Procedures? The contribution of social (in)justice theory to the explanation of noise annoyance

E. Maris, P.J.M. Stallen, H. Steensma & R. Vermunt, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 20, November 2007, nr. 4, pp. 445-460

Noise annoyance is determined by acoustical (e.g., loudness, pitch) and nonacoustical variables (e.g., sensitivity, attitudes towards the source). What is the role of social nonacoustical variables (e.g., the sound management)? Three laboratory experiments (N1 = 90, N2 = 117, N3 = 76 subjects) investigating the effects of fair (i.e., 'voice'), neutral, and 'unfair' (i.e., inconsistent procedure) sound management procedures on annoyance with fifteen minutes of 50 or 70 dB A(Leq.) aircraft sound, are evaluated. Results from each experiment show that systematic differences in procedural fairness yield systematic differences in annoyance. The combined results suggest that: 1) a psychological model of noise annoyance needs to consider the social aspects of noise exposure, 2) the operation of social nonacoustical determinants depends on the perceived harmfulness of the exposure situation, arising either from the situation's acoustics or from its social implications, and 3) aviation noise policies should pay due attention to the fairness of their procedures.