Noise and Social Interaction as Simultaneous Stressors

Abstract

This study investigated some of the combined effects of noise and stress of social interaction on group behavior and performance. Three independent groups of college students participated in the simulation game Starpower while exposed to different levels of noise. Intermittent white noise at 61 dB (A) and 75 dB (A) was used for the Noisy and Very Noisy conditions, respectively, and the ambient sound level of 51 dB (A) was used for Quiet. Tests were administered to each group several days prior to playing the game and again immediately after the game; changes in subject's scores were then calculated. The Self-evaluation Scale of Group Behavior, used as a measure of behavioral change, indicated that significant change had resulted from superimposing relatively low levels of noise on social interaction. Subjects in groups subjected to noisier environments perceived the behavior of others as more disagreeable, disorganized, and threatening. The combined stressors failed to produce decremental performance on the Digit Symbol test, which suggests, according to the Yerkes-Dodson Law (1908), that the stress level for optimum performance had not been exceeded in this relatively simple task.