Gender differences in optimal listening levels and loudness perception

The measuring experiments of the optimal listening levels for various sounds, such as music, have shown that male participants tended to adjust their optimal listening levels higher than did females. The gender difference in optimal listening level of reproduced sounds might be affected by the gender difference in loudness perception. To examine gender difference in loudness perception, we conducted rating experiments of loudness of various sounds. These experiments revealed that female participants assigned higher loudness scores than did males for the same sound. We also found that the difference in optimal loudness between male and female participants was approximately equal to their difference in optimal listening levels. To confirm the factors affecting the gender difference in loudness perception, rating experiments of loudness were conducted using interval scale and ratio scale. The gender difference in loudness perception was observed regardless of the range of sound pressure levels or the number of steps in the verbal interval scale. However, this difference was not clearly observed when the ratio scale, such as magnitude estimation, was used for evaluation of loudness. Gender differences in loudness judgments may actually reflect differences in the use of verbal expression rather than differences in perception of intensity.