A test of the effectiveness of the reticence program at the Pennsylvania state university

Abstract

The primary goal of this investigation was to assess the effectiveness of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Reticence Program as a treatment for individuals with communication difficulties, such as communication apprehension, reticence, and shyness. Special sections of the basic speech communication course at PSU and regular public speaking sections of that same course were compared. Participants completed the PRCA‐24, the McCroskey, Andersen, Richmond, and Wheeless (1981) Shy Scale, and the Jones and Russell (1982) Social Reticence Scale during the first and last weeks of the semester. Results indicated that on the overall Social Reticence Scale and one of its subscales (difficulty meeting people), participants in the reticence group showed significant decreases in shyness relative to both the public speaking and control groups. A similar pattern of effects was found for the Shy Scale and the public speaking and meeting subscales of the PRCA‐24. On the group subscale, those in reticence and public speaking courses showed significant improvement relative to the control group. Those in the reticence section showed the greatest reduction in public speaking and composite PRCA‐24 scores, although public speaking students also reported significant improvement over the control group.