## 4 Conclusions  
A shopping mall located in Amman, Jordan, was studied in regard to noisiness and acoustic comfort and its influence on the employees of the mall. Measurements of SPLs were carried out in four different areas of use and at three different locations for each area. The measurements were done four times a day, over a whole week. These measurements revealed a high \(\mathrm{L_{Aeq}}\) in the mall. The measured values differed significantly between the different areas, with maximums in the playing areas and food courts, followed by the entrances and shopping areas. The loud sounds in the playing areas referred to the different carousels and playing devices used, in addition to the yelling and crying of the children playing, with a maximum average \(\mathrm{L_{Aeq}}\) of 83 dBA. In the food court, the main source of noise was the existence of a large number of people sitting close to each other and talking loudly, as well as the activities of food preparation, resulting in a maximum \(\mathrm{L_{Aeq}}\) of 76 dBA. This background sound pressure level was high enough to force people sitting three feet from each other to raise their voices to a very loud level, in order to understand each other [25]. The shopping areas' and entrance's maximum \(\mathrm{L_{Aeq}}\) was 70 dBA and 71 dBA, respectively. The values in the mall, in comparison with many studies done in other countries, showed high \(\mathrm{L_{Aeq}}\); however, the annoyance of the employees from these sounds was moderate and showed fair levels. This suggests that the employees have adapted and are accustomed to these sounds as part of their work environment [14], mainly in the food courts and the playing areas. More care and action need to be taken to reduce these sound levels, primarily in the playing area. These sounds are close to the limits recommended for the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss. Moreover, for lower sound-pressure levels in the rest of the mall, non-auditory effects are important and need to be intensively considered. We believe this needs to be accomplished by raising the awareness of employees about the importance of this issue, given its reflection on their working efficiency, as 23.5% of the all employees believe they have a reduction in their efficiency due the noise in the mall. The measured RT varied from one location to another. The differences in the RT values between the different locations in the mall were also significant. The overall values fall within the recommended values for large spaces, and the need for improvement is limited to just the location of Entrance 2, which is open to a large atrium. The design of the mall and the cladding on the walls present a good acoustical design. An improvement in the RT value in the Entrance 2 area (in this case, a reduction) can improve acoustic comfort. However, these improvements are not critical, and the values found in the literature showed far higher values in other malls. This study showed a stronger direct relationship between RT values and the subjective rating of loudness. This is opposite to the relation between the \(\mathrm{L_{Aeq}}\) measurements and the loudness rating. This result suggests that the personal judgment of loudness within this study is not related to the actual measured \(\mathrm{L_{Aeq}}\); other factors and important effects, such as the RT, may play a role. A generalization of these results cannot be done unless further investigation and validation are performed in other malls and on a larger sample, and considering multiple independent variables, as suggested by [11; 19]. This study highlights the annoyance of the employees from the music played in the background. The mall administration needs to investigate this problem to determine the exact content of the claim,in order to change the audio system or music selection. This could produce a valuable impact on workers in the mall and may also improve the customers' experience and satisfaction.