Elucidating the relationship between noise sensitivity and personality

Sensitivity to unwanted sounds is common in general and clinical populations. Noise sensitivity refers to physiological and psychological internal states of an individual that increase the degree of reactivity to noise in general. The current study investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and noise sensitivity using the 240-item NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and 35-item The Noise-Sensitivity-Questionnaire (NoiSeQ) scales, respectively. Overall, the Big Five accounted for 33% of the variance in noise sensitivity, with the Introversion-Extroversion dimension explaining the most variability. Furthermore, the Big Five personality dimensions (neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) had an independent effect on noise sensitivity, which were linear. However, additional analyses indicated that the influence of gender and age must be considered when examining the relationship between personality and noise sensitivity. The findings caution against pooling data across genders, not controlling for age, and using personality dimensions in isolation.