
Difference in the perceived loudness of sound between Chinese men and women
Gender differences in perceived loudness have been observed between Japanese men and women in previous studies. Female participants tended to assign higher loudness scores to sounds of the same sound pressure level than did male participants. However, this difference was not clearly
observed when using a ratio scale for the evaluation of loudness, such as in a magnitude estimation. To discuss factors affecting gender differences in perceived loudness, the same rating experiments used in previous studies were conducted with Chinese men and women. A rating experiment using
a verbal interval scale showed that Chinese women tended to rate the same sounds as louder than did Chinese men. The gender effect was replicated in an experiment using an adjustment method that measured the limits of the sound pressure level perceived as soft or loud; women selected lower
levels than did men for the highest limit of soft sounds and the lowest limit of loud sounds. These tendencies were the same as those of Japanese men and women observed in previous studies. Rating experiments adopting the methods of magnitude estimation and magnitude production for the ratio
scales showed that the power exponent a in Stevens' power law was larger for female participants than for male participants under some conditions. However, the observed gender difference in the power exponent a for Chinese was not consistent, while it was not clear for Japanese. The gender
difference in criteria for verbally categorizing loudness may be responsible for the gender difference in perceived loudness.
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Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Graduate School of Reginal Development and Creativity, Utsunomiya University 2: Graduate School of Design, Kyushu University 3: Collage of Art, Nihon University
Publication date: 01 May 2022
NCEJ is the pre-eminent academic journal of noise control. It is the Journal of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA. Since 1973 NCEJ has served as the primary source for noise control researchers, students, and consultants.
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