The risk perception of environmental noise

The perceived risk of many environmental hazards (e.g. climate change) has been extensively studied. While reactions to noise exposure, such as annoyance, have been studied, the extent to which environmental noise is perceived to be a risk to society and to the individual remains to be investigated. In this paper, we examine the perceived risk of noise exposure and the role of risk dimensions (affect, exposure, severity and susceptibility), environmental predisposition and person-related factors on this perception using data collected from 2507 Montreal respondents to an online survey. Respondents were also asked about four other environmental hazards, allowing us to situate noise exposure within the broader risk literature. The results demonstrate that noise exposure is perceived to be a moderate risk to society, though respondents consider it a slight-to-moderate risk to themselves. Ratings of perceived risk of noise exposure were associated with increased affect and severity. Additionally, the perceived general risk was positively associated with environmental predisposition while the perceived individual risk was positively associated with exposure. We conclude by situating the perceived risk of noise exposure within the broader risk literature and proposing noise exposure as an environmental risk object.