OFFICE NOISE, SATISFACTION, AND PERFORMANCE

A field study assessed disturbance by office noise in relation to envi ronmental satisfaction, job satisfaction, and job performance ratings among 2,391 employees at 58 sites before and/or after office renovatio n. In all, 54% said they were bothered often by noise, especially by p eople talking and telephones ringing. Disturbance by noise correlated with dissatisfaction with the environment and job but not with self- o r supervisor-rated performance. Quasi-experimental analysis of groups reporting increased, decreased, or unchanged disturbance by noise reve aled a drop in satisfaction concurrent with increasing noise. Disturba nce by office noise may reflect a variety of environmental and job cha racteristics and may have a role in job satisfaction through both envi ronmental satisfaction and job characteristics. Implications are discu ssed.