Speech communication in the office : the effects of background sound level and acoustical privacy
Date
1983
Authors
Ng, Cheuk Fan
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Abstract
Noise and lack of conversational privacy are major sources of dissatisfaction in contemporary offices with open plan designs. To attenuate the adverse effect of noise and to improve conversational privacy, music, constant humming or other artificial sounds have been introduced into offices. However, the impact of these sounds on office workers has not been adequately assessed.
The present study explores the effects of background sound level and acoustical privacy on the quality of and amount of speech communication in the office setting.
Speech communication is an essential activity in the office. Background sounds may interfere with or even block conversation if they are too loud or distracting. Yet moderate sounds can reduce the fear that a personal or confidential conversation will be overheard, thereby facilitating communication.
A 3 (Sound level) X 2 (Privacy) factorial design was used in this study. The dependent measures were Satisfaction (measured by a self-report scale) and Amount of Speech (measured in terms of the amount of time spent conversing and the number of words spoken). The background sound (music) level was varied at mean levels of 38, 53, and 65 dEA and acoustical privacy was manipulated by the presence or absence of a "typist".
Participants were recruited from the general public to role-play job applicants in a job interview situation in a simulated office setting.
Sound level and Privacy both significantly affected Satisfaction with speech communication. Satisfaction was significantly lower when the sound level was low. Lack of privacy apparently lowered Satisfaction in the low sound level condition only, suggesting that participants were afraid of being overheard. Amount of Speech was not significantly affected by either Privacy or Sound Level.
The difference in results of behavioral and verbal measures of communication suggests that there is as discrepancy between what people believe to be the impact of their environment on them and their actual behavior. An alternative explanation could simply be that behavioral measures used in this study are not sensitive enough to detect the difference. The interview topics may not have been sufficiently confidential to elicit reductions in the amount of participants' speech.