Self-reported noise sensitivity and perceived enjoyment of working in an open office environment

Abstract

Individuals may vary in their sensitivity to noise and this may affect how they relate to their surroundings. As part of an intervention project about the psychosocial effects of informational sound masking, we examined the occurrence of self-labeled noise sensitive individuals as well as the association between three indicators of noise sensitivity and one indicator for the perceived enjoyment of working in an open office environment. We also examined how the indicators of noise sensitivity correlated with age, gender and ratings of behavioural and architectural countermeasures, and the perceived impact of the sound environment on work tasks. Sixty-eight individuals (32 women and 35 men) between 24 and 64 years of age participated by responding to an online questionnaire at baseline in March 2023. The results showed that 47 % labeled themselves as at least being somewhat sensitive to sounds, while 53 % stated that they were not especially, or not at all, sensitive to sounds. Furthermore, 57 % reported that they much, or to a high degree, enjoyed working in an open office environment, whereas 43 % reported that they did not, or only to some extent enjoyed this. Spearman rank order correlations indicated that individuals who labeled themselves as noise sensitive, or reported having a propensity to react very strongly to sounds, were more likely to report a lesser enjoyment of working in an open office environment. In addition, they were also more likely to rate that the sound environment negatively influenced their ability to concentrate and to perform at work. Accordingly, individual variations in sound sensitivity is one factor to consider when designing and operating open office environments; and may also be a factor that impacts the recruitment of individuals to employments in open office environments.