Effect of personality traits on sensitivity, annoyance and loudness perception of low and high frequency noise

This paper presents investigations into a comparative assessment of the effects of low and high frequency noise in relation to personality traits. The high and low-frequency noises used are produced in the research laboratory using CoolEdit software. 80 candidates are exposed to equivalent continuous sound pressure level of 65 dBA of low and high frequency noise in an acoustic room with a 2 week interval. After 1 hour of exposure to noise, participants were asked to complete noise annoyance scale, Weinstein noise sensitivity questionnaire, loudness perception. The results obtained indicate that there is a significant difference between annoyance and perception of low frequency noise in comparison to annoyance and perception of high frequency noise, but no significant difference is noted between sensitivity to low and high frequency noise. The multivariate analysis of covariance test is applied, which reveals that personality traits have a significant effect on sensitivity to low and high frequency noise, annoyance due to low and high frequency noise, loudness perception of low frequency noise, but no interaction effects are found. It is further shown that personality traits are more effective on sensitivity, annoyance and loudness perception to high frequency noise than those of low frequency noise, and such effects are not only influenced by severity of noise, but also by personality traits and frequency components

Sick building syndrome: are we doing enough?

Health and well-being are vitally important aspects of people centric building design and are the roots of productivity. Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a collection of factors that can negatively affect physical health in several ways. Besides physical health is also related to psychological well-being because the human body is one interactive biological system. This paper focuses on reviewing the current state of knowledge on building sickness syndrome which has been prevalent as a building illness since the 1970s especially in offices and schools. While the concepts of intelligent, smart and sustainable buildings have gained considerable attention during recent decades, there is now increasing attention being given to designing healthy buildings. This study provides a review about SBS symptoms. Several negative effects of SBS are identified and potential solutions are advocated. Finally, the study stresses the role of built environment and concludes that ongoing research towards tackling SBS and developing healthy indoor environments should not be limited to a single formula as any health-related building design approach is dependent on several interacting factors

Evaluating the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction among female hospital nurses in Babol: An application of structural equation modeling

Background: This study was designed to investigate job satisfaction and its relation to perceived job stress among hospital nurses in Babol County, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 406 female nurses in 6 Babol hospitals.Respondents completed the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), the health and safety executive (HSE) indicator tool and a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive, analytical and structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were carried out applying SPSS v. 22 and AMOS v. 22.Results: The Normed Fit Index (NFI), Non-normed Fit Index (NNFI), Incremental Fit Index (IFI)and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) were greater than 0.9. Also, goodness of fit index (GFI=0.99)and adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) were greater than 0.8, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were 0.04, The model was found to be with an appropriate fit. The R-squared was 0.42 for job satisfaction, and all its dimensions were related to job stress. The dimensions of job stress explained 42% of changes in the variance of job satisfaction. There was a significant relationship between the dimensions of job stress such as demand (β =0.173,CI =0.095 - 0.365, P≤0.001), control (β =0.135, CI =0.062 - 0.404, P =0.008), relationships(β =-0.208, CI =-0.637– -0.209; P≤0.001) and changes (β =0.247, CI =0.360 - 1.026, P≤0.001)with job satisfaction.Conclusion: One of the important interventions to increase job satisfaction among nurses maybe improvement in the workplace. Reducing the level of workload in order to improve job demand and minimizing role conflict through reducing conflicting demands are recommended