A place of absolute silence is difficult to find. All around us our senses are stimulated by the sound of appliances, the people around us, the sounds of the street and so on. Of course it is nice to listen to a beautiful piece of music, but too many sound stimuli, to which we are currently exposed, is not good either. This certainly affects our behavior.
Our attitude towards noise
If you are relaxing in the garden reading a book and then the neighbor decides to do some carpentry and sawing, there is a good chance that you will become irritated and will no longer be relaxing in that lovely chair reading that book. Scientific research has shown that noise can provoke aggressive behavior, make our attitude towards others more negative and reduce our helpfulness. As for reducing our helpfulness, this is easily explained. When we are barely or not audible due to noise, we are also less likely to provide help. And when noise bothers us, it has a negative effect on our mental state. For example, it has been shown that the constant noise made by airplane engines is one of the reasons why a long flight is so exhausting for many people and affects our mood. And this negative mood reduces the tendency to help or be cooperative.
Performing a task in a noisy environment
It has been found that when people have to perform a task in a noisy environment, they focus their attention solely on the most important aspects of that task. Everything else happening around them is ignored. This narrowed attention is a way to minimize the amount of stimuli we have to process in a noisy environment. When there is too much noise around us, we can no longer pay attention to everything. However, loud noise can be so much that we are no longer able to pick up certain social stimuli to which we would otherwise respond. A good example is motorists, who often exhibit antisocial driving behavior when they play loud music.
The control over noise
There is a significant difference between the noise over which we have control and over which we have no control. When people choose to put on a CD, this will of course not bother them and the influence of the music will actually be positive (again depending on the type of music..). In this case, the control of the noise is in your own hands. Something that is experienced as pleasant and this also explains the success of the Walkman/Discman/MP3 player. You no longer have to be bothered by the noise on the street, but you decide for yourself what you listen to.
Noise sensitive and noise addicts
Personality also plays a role in the experience of sound. The following question can also be asked: who wants silence? Research has shown that there are two types of people; noise sensitive and noise addicts. For people who are sensitive to noise, sounds can quickly become too much. They need a quiet environment for a calm mental state. For a sound addict, noise, noise, noise is reassuring. To them it really is a kind of drug. Its effect on our body is that it stimulates the secretion of adrenaline and thus dispels feelings of depression and boredom. However, it is that same adrenaline that increases the likelihood of reacting aggressively or tensely.
Noise within our society
It is difficult to find a place of absolute silence anymore. Sometimes this works when we are on holiday, but there is also a good chance that we will be exposed to screaming children, the music produced by a beach bar, etc. However, it is not the case that the sounds around us should only be seen as negative. Many people feel comfortable living in a busy city, with all the noise that comes with it. However, it is a fact that in our current society we receive too many sound stimuli and this does not benefit people’s mood and, consequently, our attitude towards each other.