Aircraft Noise related Fairness Inventory – Development and Validation of a psychometric Instrument

Kurzfassung

Aircraft noise annoyance is significantly impacted by non-acoustic factors such as an individual’s attitude towards the noise source, perceived control over the noise and predictability of noise events. The concept of perceived fairness has been introduced into the context of aircraft noise research as an underlying construct of many of these non-acoustic factors. For instance, the assessment of noise and its source may depend on the perceived fairness of the noise distribution, the information provided by the noise source and opportunities for noiseaffected individuals to participate in noise-related decision-making. So far, a validated instrument to assess a broad range of fairness aspects in surveys has been lacking. For this purpose, the Aircraft Noise related Fairness Inventory (fAIR-In), a multifaceted psychometric instrument, has been developed. Via 32 items, the fAIR-In assesses the fairness of aircraft noise and airport management from the perspective of the four facets distributive, procedural, informational and interpersonal fairness. The development and validation process based on a survey with 1,367 residents living around three airports in Germany is reported. Results of the validation process confirm the four-factor structure of fairness and show high predictive validity regarding annoyance, airport and air travel acceptance as well as protest behavior. We conclude that the fAIR-In is a useful instrument to capture existing community perceptions of the airport and for the design, monitoring and evaluation of measures aimed at building a better neighbourly relationship between the airport and local residents.