The Association between Noise Annoyance and Cognitive Dissonance Reduction, Arousal, and Cognitive Flexibility among Tile Industry Workers

Background: Noise annoyance is recognized as one of the negative effects of noise exposure and the most common mental response to it.This study aimed to examine the impact of noise annoyance on cognitive dissonance, arousal, and cognitive flexibility in tile industry workers.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 104 employees of a tile factory, all of whom were included through a census.The studied population was split into two groups with 53 exposed and 51 non-exposed to noise.Noise measurement was carried out to identify the workers exposed to noise above the standard.To ascertain cognitive flexibility (CFI) as well as arousal and cognitive dissonance reduction (DARQ), two questionnaires were employed.The level of noise annoyance in both groups was assessed using the ISO 15666 method.Results: The mean score of cognitive flexibility in the non-exposed to noise group (99.27 12.53) was higher than in the exposed group (85.72 19.89).A significant difference was found between the exposed and non-exposed to noise groups in terms of noise annoyance and cognitive flexibility (p <0.05).Nevertheless, there was no significant difference between the cognitive arousal in the two groups (p = 0.085).Conclusions: According to the results, excessive noise levels negatively affect cognitive behavior among tile industry workers, resulting in heightened noise annoyance and reduced cognitive flexibility.To safeguard employee well-being and productivity, it is essential to implement effective measures, such as reallocating tasks and assigning noise-sensitive workers to lowerexposure areas, to minimize occupational noise exposure.