Abstract
The Environmental Noise Directive expects residents to be actively involved in localising and selecting noise abatement interventions during the noise action planning process. Its intervention impact is meant to be homogeneous across population groups. Against the background of social heterogeneity and environmental disparities, however, the impact of noise action planning on exposure to traffic-related noise and its health effects is unlikely to follow homogenous distributions. Until now, there has been no study evaluating the impact of noise action measures on the social distribution of traffic-related noise exposure and health outcomes. We develop a conceptual (logic) model on cognitive-motivational determinants of residents’ civic engagement and health (inequities) by integrating arguments from the Model on household’s Vulnerability to the local Environment, the learned helplessness model in environmental psychology, the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress, and the reserve capacity model. Specifically, we derive four hypothetical patterns of cognitive-motivational determinants yielding different levels of sustained physiological activation and expectancies of civic engagement. These patterns may help us understand why health inequities arise in the context of noise action planning and learn how to transform noise action planning into an instrument conducive to health equity. While building on existing frameworks, our conceptual model will be tested empirically in the next stage of our research process.
Highlights
In response to the substantial exposure to traffic-related noise in urban areas [1], the EUEnvironmental Noise Directive (END, 2002/49/EC) requires public environmental authorities to map environmental noise and to implement noise action plans for noise abatement [2]
This prevention approach relies on the average: Average exposure and response values apply to the majority of the population and, the intervention impact is expected to be relatively homogeneous across population groups
Against the background of social heterogeneity and environmental disparities in urban societies [4–7], the intervention impact of noise action planning on exposure to traffic-related noise and its health effects is rather unlikely to follow homogenous distributions
Summary
In response to the substantial exposure to traffic-related noise in urban areas [1], the EU. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) [34–36], MOVE describes cognitive-motivational and actual predictors of institutional coping that reflect positive expectancies of coping outcomes (as captured by behavioural attitude and subjective norm) and of coping-specific perceived controllability and self-efficacy (as an important aspect of perceived behavioural control). To increase the explanatory value of the model, additional factors need to be identified This is why our adoption of MOVE may benefit from an integration of research on the cognitive-motivational impacts of the environmental exposures that residents are expected to actively cope with. A positive outcome expectancy related to the perceived value of civic engagement (i.e., aspect of the attitude towards institutional coping), as well as confidence and knowledge (i.e., behaviour-specific self-efficacy and controllability as the two aspects of perceived behavioural control), were found to be significantly lower among residents in more exposed residential areas as compared to their less exposed counterparts. Perceived control over noise exposure significantly strengthened the association between stress due to noise, and avoiding and comforting coping strategies (avoidance under conditions of air traffic exposure and comforting cognitions under conditions of road traffic exposure, see note 1 at the end of this paper)
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