Household noise-generating behaviors are consistently associated with increased neighborhood noise annoyance across socio-environmental contexts

• Household noise-generating behaviors vary by socio-environmental contexts • Coping behaviors for neighborhood noise show cross-contextual similarities • Overall noise annoyance increases with frequency of household conversation/shouting • Source-specific annoyance increases with frequency of corresponding household noise • Coping behaviors generally do not predict neighborhood noise annoyance Exploring the relationships between occupants’ household noise-related behaviors and their annoyance toward neighbors’ noise can provide valuable insights into neighborhood noise management. We considered household noise-generating behaviors and coping behaviors for neighborhood noise in this study, which reflect two distinct yet complementary aspects of how occupants interact with noise in residential environments: producing it and alleviating its effects. A cross-national survey was conducted in Germany and China to investigate (i) household noise-related behaviors, (ii) neighborhood noise annoyance, and (iii) the relationships between these variables. A total of 743 individuals participated, with data from 202 German and 308 Chinese participants retained for analysis based on predetermined exclusion criteria. Results highlighted that household noise-generating behaviors differed between the German and Chinese samples, while coping behaviors for neighborhood noise were largely similar. Socio-environmental contexts influenced neighborhood noise perception, with Chinese samples reporting significantly higher annoyance toward floor impact noise than their German counterparts. Except for earplug/headphone use, most coping behaviors did not predict annoyance ratings. However, household noise-generating behaviors showed consistent associations with neighborhood noise annoyance across different socio-environmental contexts. Specifically, overall annoyance toward neighborhood noise increased with the frequency of household conversations/shouting (odds ratio: German = 1.47; Chinese = 1.57), and source-specific annoyance increased with more frequent generation of corresponding household noise types (odds ratio: German = 1.59; Chinese = 1.51). This study underscores the importance of incorporating complainants’ self-reflection on household noise as part of mediation procedures for neighborhood noise disputes.