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Effects of Ambient Noise on Affect and Perceived Napping Quality Han, Jiaojiao; Huang, Meihua; Niu, Tinyung; Ramsay, David; Quenneville, Vincent

Abstract

We examined what kind of sounds are relaxing to people, will help them sleep, and how they benefit their mood. Using a between-subjects design, participants listened to a short audio clip featuring either nature sounds, background noise from the UBC Student Union building, or sounds in the style of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) in order to compare their impact on mood, affect, and relaxation. We also measured the extent to which individuals enjoy and perceive these sounds as conducive to sleep. While we hypothesized that ASMR would be deemed most relaxing, calmness scores were highest amongst subjects in the nature sounds group, suggesting that sounds of this variety may be most likely to improve sleep quality. That said, there were no differences between groups in self-reported belief of the sounds’ sleep-conduciveness. Participants similarly liked ASMR and nature sounds, with background noises being the least favoured of the three. Our findings can help the design of UBC’s nap pods by confirming that even a one-minute intervention of nature sounds can serve as a possible sleep aid, and that the reduction of background noise would be beneficial in the nap pods to help improve sleep quality. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Item Metadata

Title
Effects of Ambient Noise on Affect and Perceived Napping Quality
Alternate Title
Ambient Noise and Napping
Creator
Han, Jiaojiao; Huang, Meihua; Niu, Tinyung; Ramsay, David; Quenneville, Vincent
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Alma Mater Society; University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning
Date Issued
2019-04-04
Description
We examined what kind of sounds are relaxing to people, will help them sleep, and how they benefit their mood. Using a between-subjects design, participants listened to a short audio clip featuring either nature sounds, background noise from the UBC Student Union building, or sounds in the style of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) in order to compare their impact on mood, affect, and relaxation. We also measured the extent to which individuals enjoy and perceive these sounds as conducive to sleep. While we hypothesized that ASMR would be deemed most relaxing, calmness scores were highest amongst subjects in the nature sounds group, suggesting that sounds of this variety may be most likely to improve sleep quality. That said, there were no differences between groups in self-reported belief of the sounds’ sleep-conduciveness. Participants similarly liked ASMR and nature sounds, with background noises being the least favoured of the three. Our findings can help the design of UBC’s nap pods by confirming that even a one-minute intervention of nature sounds can serve as a possible sleep aid, and that the reduction of background noise would be beneficial in the nap pods to help improve sleep quality. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”
Subject
Buildings; Health; Wellbeing
Genre
Report
Type
Text
Language
eng
Series
UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report; University of British Columbia. PSYC 321
Date Available
2019-12-17
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0387181
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/72825
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; Science, Faculty of; Psychology, Department of; Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Peer Review Status
Unreviewed
Scholarly Level
Undergraduate
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International