This is an accepted version of this page Annoyance is an unpleasant mental state that is characterized by irritation and distraction from one's conscious thinking.
One can often encounter annoyance factors in media, including popular music, memes, commercials, and advertising jingles, which by their nature are continually repeated over a period of weeks or months.
A study published in the International Journal of Conflict Management found that one's response to an annoyance, at least when the perceived cause is another person, escalate to more extreme levels as they go unresolved.
Psychological warfare can involve creating annoyances to distract and wear down the resistance of the target.
For example, in 1993, the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) played music "specifically selected for its irritation ability" on loudspeakers outside the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas in an attempt to bring about the surrender of David Koresh and his followers.