High Communication Apprehension Research Articles

Two longitudinal studies of communication apprehension and its effects on college students' success

Communication apprehension is examined as a potential barrier to student academic success. Using conceptualizations from prior research by McCroskey and others, several hypotheses were generated to test what effects high levels of communication apprehension (CA) might have on both retention and academic achievement as measured by grade point averages (GPAs). Using data from two four year longitudinal studies at a four year undergraduate college, results show that high CA students were significantly more likely to drop out compared to low CA students and tended to drop out significantly more after only one year. High CA and low CA students did not differ significantly in their GPAs. Suggestions are offered for intervention to maximize the chance that more high CAs will stay enrolled.

Meta‐analysis of the relationship between communication apprehension and cognitive performance

Although numerous studies have examined the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and cognitive performance (e.g., IQ grade point averages, course grades, assignment grades, and test scores), the findings are equivocal. One area of findings suggests that students in the traditional educational environment experiencing high CA are at a distinct disadvantage when compared to their low or moderate counterparts. A second area of findings suggests that no significant relationship exists. A third area indicates that the nature of the instructional environment is a significant mediating variable that moderates the effects of CA on cognitive performance. In the present study, a meta‐analysis was conducted of 23 manuscripts containing information on 30 experiments that examined CA and cognitive performance. Results confirmed a statistically significant negative correlation between CA and cognitive performance. Implications for future research and classroom instruction are discussed.

Communication apprehension and speech preparation time

This study tested whether speech preparation time was linked to communication apprehension (CA). Data reported herein indicate that high CA speakers required more preparation time than low CA speakers. Those expecting to be evaluated used more preparation time than those not expecting to be evaluated. CA interacted with evaluation such that high CAs expecting to be evaluated took longer to prepare their speeches than those in the other conditions. The implications of these results are discussed in the conclusion of this paper.

The impact of communication apprehension and interaction structure on initial interactions

This study examined the impact of communication apprehension (CA) and interaction structure on participants’ perceptions and behavior during initial interactions. Overall, high CA males perceived their female interaction partners to be less physically attractive, less trustworthy, and less satisfying to interact with than did low CA males. There were no statistically significant differences for females’ perceptions of the high and low CA males. High CA males talked less, displayed fewer disfluencies, and used less head nodding than did low CA males. Interaction structure accounted for differences in a variety of the variables explored here. However, with the exception of self‐disclosure, structure effects were not related to communication apprehension.

Antecedents of communication apprehension: A reaffirmation

This study examines the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and students’ self‐reports of their communication experiences in interpersonal, small group, and public circumstances with peers, parents, and teachers. Questions concerning these experiences were posed from reinforcement, modeling, and social comparison perspectives. The strongest relationships were found between CA and reinforcement oriented questions that involved teachers in public speaking settings. Those with high CA found giving speeches with teachers present to be non‐rewarding The study also found support for a relationship between modeling and CA.

Communication apprehension in the basic course in performance of literature

This study investigated the narrative accounts of the aesthetic performance experience as related by high communication apprehensives (HCA's) and low communication apprehensives (LCA's). Content analyses of beginning performance studies students’ personal narratives were used to discern differences between the two populations. Results indicate that while both HCA's and LCA's commonly label themselves as apprehensive about performance, their characterizations of the performance experience differ significantly across several dimensions.

Action Assembly Theory and Communication Apprehension A Psycho-physiological Study

Research reported here replicates Greene and Sparks (1983a, 1983b) and their re-conceptualization of communication apprehension (CA). Noting the limited empirical evidence in support of a trait/structure link with physiological output, this study applies action assembly theory to the problem. Differential heart rate curves are predicted for high and low trait CA based on Greene's (1984) action assembly theory. The study confirms a hypothesized cubic heart rate function for low trait CA subjects and a quadratic heart rate function for high trait CA subjects. Results are interpreted as empirical support for an action assembly approach to communication anxiety.

The Relationships of Self-Disclosure and Disclosiveness to High and Low Communication Apprehension

The Relationships of Self-Disclosure and Disclosiveness to High and Low Communication Apprehension

Intraview©: Career Development Through Business Communication

The authors offer the Intraview©: Communication Intervention Strategy as a means of reducing high Communication Apprehension (CA). This intervention strategy, based on helping individuals to know more about themselves and their interactions with others, was implemented in a pretest, posttest, and control design, and CA was reduced at a statistically significant level (.01).

Communication apprehension as a personality trait: An emotional defense of a concept

The original conceptualization of Communication Apprehension (CA) as a trait has been challenged recently on the grounds that those identified as high CAs do not always feel greater anxiety than low CAs when confronted with oral communication situations. That challenge is based on research that is difficult to interpret; methodological and conceptual problems are associated with the manipulation of the situation variable and the definition and measurement of the dependent variable of anxiety. This study clarifies the trait‐state nature of communication apprehension by applying an emotion‐based theory of human response as a means of resolving these problems. The results support the conceptualization of communication apprehension as a trait‐like personality characteristic which predisposes certain individuals to higher levels of anxiety in oral communication situations.

An examination of the effect of basic speech courses, self‐concept, and self‐disclosure on communication apprehension

This study examined the impact of three basic communication courses on communication apprehension, self‐concept, and self‐disclosure. Results indicated that simply completing any of the three courses significantly reduced high communication apprehension. Negative correlations were obtained between communication apprehension and two types of self‐disclosure, while positive correlations were obtained for the discrepancy between ideal self‐concept and self‐concept as a communicator and communication apprehension. The findings are discussed with regard to their impact on reducing communication apprehension in the classroom.

High communication apprehensives talk about communication apprehension and its effects on their behavior

One rich, yet untapped, source of data about high CA is the thoughts about it of these people who suffer from it. An exploratory study was conducted to examine the possibilities of using the Focus Group Interview (FGI) technique to enable people suffering from high CA to discuss and report on their feelings and behaviors. Three FGIs were conducted, resulting in the generation of information from high CAs about their feelings about talking, feelings about not talking, the relationship between feelings about talking and behaviors, difficulties associated with talking, and reactions to the PRCA as a reflector of attitude. The information generated sheds some further light on the experience of CA.

Suffering in Silence: The Effects of Fear of Talking on Small Group Participation

The article examines the effects of communication apprehension (fear of talking) on participation in small groups. It reviews the literature on communication apprehension, presents information regarding high communication apprehen sion generated from three in-depth group interviews with identified high apprehensives, and discusses the implications and applications for trainers working with small groups.

Heterosocial communicative behavior and communication apprehension

This paper investigated the relationship between dating and communication apprehension. Results indicated that four of the eight dating variables differentiated between high and low communication apprehensives (i.e., conditioned anxiety, heterosocial apprehension, physical attractiveness, and heterosocial skills). In addition, discussions and recommendations were made for future research in three areas: (1) treatment programs for individuals with communicative deficits; (2) causal models examining CA and relational practices variables; and (3) the conceptualization and operationalization of heterosocial satisfaction and heterosocial quantity.

Communication apprehension of elementary and secondary students and teachers

A series of studies are reported that indicate a substantial increase in the average communication apprehension level of children occurs between kindergarten and grade 5 and that a disproportionately greater number of teachers with high communication apprehension teach at the lower elementary school level as compared to the upper levels. Suggestions for needed research are outlined and discussed. The development of two new scales designed to measure the communication orientations of children in grades K‐12, the Personal Report of Communication Fear (PRCF) and the Shyness Scale (SS), is also reported.

The perceptual world of the communication apprehensive: The effect of communication apprehension and interpersonal gaze on interpersonal perception

This study examined the effects of gaze behavior by interviewees on the interpersonal perception of interviewers. Additionally, the communication apprehension (CA) level of the interviewers was measured. Both the main effects of eye contact and the interactive effect of interviewers’ CA level and eye contact were tested for 11 person‐perception dimensions. Results showed both main effects and interaction effects, indicating the importance of assessing communication behaviors and communication traits in combination. Results also indicated that high communication apprehensives are relatively insensitive to differences in eye contact.

COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN A PERFORMANCE-ORIENTED BASIC COMMUNICATION COURSE

The study of communication apprehension (CA) impact in the instructional environment is extended through examination of all three CA levels relative to various performance situations in a basic communication course. Results indicate significant differences in achievement indices between all three CA groups on final course grade and the first two of four performance assignments. Moderate and high CA groups were not significantly different from each other on the third and fourth performance tasks. Low and high CA groups were significantly different in all performance areas. No differences were indicated between CA groups on the final examination. Results are discussed relative to the naturalistic nature of the study.

An empirical examination of the relationship between communication apprehension and tolerance of ambiguity

The purpose of the research was to investigate the previously discovered negative linear relationship between communication apprehension and tolerance of ambiguity. The authors took exception to the notion that a simple negative correlation reflected the true nature of the relationship. Instead, they hypothesized that the reported correlation would hold primarily for those with high communication apprehension and that because of this fact, a quadratic rather than linear explanation of the relationship would be more realistic.

Situational determinants of communication apprehension

The theoretical foundation of communication apprehension is a trait conceptualization of speech anxiety. Although stability is implicit in the general notion of traits, the stability of communication apprehension measures has not been well documented. This study was conducted to determine whether or not an impending classroom performance affects PRCA scores. The results indicate that subjects anticipating a speech performance report higher communication apprehension than those anticipating a lecture. Moreover, the results indicate the possibility of disarray of PRCA scores following anticipated speech performance.

VERBAL BEHAVIOR AS A FUNCTION OF APPREHENSION AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

This study examined the effect of high and low communication apprehension in conjunction with social and personal settings upon verbal behavior. Step wise multiple discriminant analysis of the data indicated a linear combination of language indices (number of syllables, Noun-Verb/Adjective-Adverb ratio, and phrase repetitions) which discriminated between the high apprehensive-personal setting group and the remaining three groups. Results are discussed relative to theoretical projections and the potential for sensitivity toward communication behavior being operative within the communication apprehension framework.