Communication Apprehension

Abstract

Communication apprehension refers to one's anxious feelings about communication. McCroskey defines communication apprehension as “an individual's level of fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another person or persons” (1977, 78). Communication apprehension has been one of the most studied individual differences in the field of interpersonal communication, under a variety of labels such as social anxiety, reticence, shyness, unwillingness to communicate, and social‐communicative anxiety (Daly & McCroskey 1984). The scope of subjects includes dating anxiety, receiver apprehension or informational reception apprehension, singing apprehension, writing apprehension, and intercultural communication apprehension (Knapp & Daly 2002).