THE sound of fingernails on a blackboard, people having loud conversations on mobile phones in public - the list of things that annoy us is extensive.

But the sound of a child whining is the most irritating in the world to adults, scientists say.

A study found that a whining kid is the most effective way of distracting people carrying out elementary cognitive tasks.

Participants who were asked to do simple subtraction while listening to a range of noises - including machine noise and infant cries - made more mistakes and completed fewer problems while listening to a whining child.

"You're basically doing less work and doing it worse when you're listening to the whines," said study co-author Rosemarie Sokol Chang, a professor of psychology at the State University of New York.

The results weren't affected by whether or not the participants had children.

http://www.news.com.au/world/childs-whine-is-the-most-annoying-sound/story-e6frfkyi-1226080225515

Interesting. Makes sense, though.

splashbaby:

The results weren't affected by whether or not the participants had children.

what about by gender?

The first airline to offer No-Infant flights, both in business and economy class, will have tapped into one[i] hell [/i] of a lucrative market share, because if there is one thing more irritating than the unattended bawling of a child, it is unquestionably being subjected to that racket while seated in a flying cylindrical tube whose echo characteristics AMPLIFY the ordeal suffered by the captive audience of airline passengers, inflicting psychological anguish worthy of litigation in a fair world.

Jakumo:

The first airline to offer No-Infant flights, both in business and economy class, will have tapped into one[i] hell [/i] of a lucrative market share, because if there is one thing more irritating than the unattended bawling of a child, it is unquestionably being subjected to that racket while seated in a flying cylindrical tube whose echo characteristics AMPLIFY the ordeal suffered by the captive audience of airline passengers, inflicting psychological anguish worthy of litigation in a fair world.

what about "men only" flights? or "gentlemen" flights
I think gender plays a role. I would assume that women are not as irritated by child's whine.

I don't know about it being the most, but I can say, through empirical observation, it's indeed very annoying and distracting. At that moment, it takes a great deal of self-control and tolerance not to shut him/her up by spanking or severely scolding him/her.

That thing is [/b]annoying!

Missy ★ B:

I don't know about it being the most but I can say, through empirical observation, it's indeed [b]very annoying and distracting. At that moment, it takes a great deal of self-control and tolerance not to shut him/her up by spanking or severely scolding him/her.

splashbaby:

THE sound of fingernails on a blackboard, people having loud conversations on mobile phones in public - the list of things that annoy us is extensive.

But the sound of a child whining is the most irritating in the world to adults, scientists say.

A study found that a whining kid is the most effective way of distracting people carrying out elementary cognitive tasks.

Participants who were asked to do simple subtraction while listening to a range of noises - including machine noise and infant cries - made more mistakes and completed fewer problems while listening to a whining child.

"You're basically doing less work and doing it worse when you're listening to the whines," said study co-author Rosemarie Sokol Chang, a professor of psychology at the State University of New York.

The results weren't affected by whether or not the participants had children.

http://www.news.com.au/world/childs-whine-is-the-most-annoying-sound/story-e6frfkyi-1226080225515

ineresting