Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10(5), 1895-1915; doi:10.3390/ijerph10051895
Linking Traffic Noise, Noise Annoyance and Life Satisfaction: A Case Study
Charles University Environment Center, José Martího 2, 160 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 February 2013 / Revised: 15 April 2013 / Accepted: 17 April 2013 / Published: 7 May 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sound and Health related Quality of Life)
Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to explore the link between rail and road traffic noise and overall life satisfaction. While the negative relationship between residential satisfaction and traffic noise is relatively well-established, much less is known about the effect of traffic noise on overall life satisfaction. Based on results of previous studies, we propose a model that links objective noise levels, noise sensitivity, noise annoyance, residential satisfaction and life satisfaction. Since it is not clear whether a bottom-up or top-down relationship between residential satisfaction and life satisfaction holds, we specify models that incorporate both of these theoretical propositions. Empirical models are tested using structural equation modeling and data from a survey among residents of areas with high levels of road traffic noise (n1 = 354) and rail traffic noise (n2 = 228). We find that traffic noise has a negative effect on residential satisfaction, but no significant direct or indirect effects on overall life satisfaction. Noise annoyance due to road and rail traffic noise has strong negative effect on residential satisfaction rather than on overall life satisfaction. These results are very similar for the road and railway traffic contexts and regardless of whether the model assumes the top-down or bottom-up direction of the causation between life satisfaction and residential satisfaction. View Full-Text
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
Scifeed alert for new publications
Never miss any articles matching your research from any publisher- Get alerts for new papers matching your research
- Find out the new papers from selected authors
- Updated daily for 49'000+ journals and 6000+ publishers
- Define your Scifeed now
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Urban, J.; Máca, V. Linking Traffic Noise, Noise Annoyance and Life Satisfaction: A Case Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10, 1895-1915.
Related Articles
Article Metrics
Comments
[Return to top]
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health
EISSN 1660-4601
Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland
RSS
E-Mail Table of Contents Alert