Reliability and Validity of the Persian Translation of the Weinstein Noise Sensitivity Scale

This study investigated the reli-abilities (internal consistency, split-half, and test -retest) and validity of Weinstein noise sensi-tivity scale in 287 non-industrial employees for the age range 17-76 years (Mean=34.17 years) in Tehran. Cronbach’s alpha was found to be 0.62 for part І, 0.68 for part ІІ, and 0.78 for total WNSS scores. Test-retest was conducted for 100 employees with a 9 week interval and the stability coefficient was 0.66 (p<0.01). A prin-cipal components factor analysis yielded only one major factor (eigenvalue = 4.32) which ex-plained 20.57% of the total variance, thereby confirming the unidimensional nature of the scale. Moreover, based on the Scree test, four factors emerged from factor analysis of cases (varimax normalized rotation). The four factors determined were: becoming sensitive to noise, disturbance in concentration, attitude to noise in where they live, and attitude to noise control. This study has shown that the WNSS has reliability and validity and is suitable for field researche.