Examines the impact of communication apprehension on avoidance, withdrawal, and anxiety in communication contexts in two separate studies. Concludes that those who are communication apprehensive avoid public speaking and that apprehensive responses to public speaking can be predicted from participant's communication apprehension level. (SRT)

Concludes that trait CA is the strongest predictor of state anxiety. Asserts that the effect of task and evaluation is systematically dependent on trait level within the individual. (MS)

Clarifies the nature of communication avoidance through a structural analysis grounded in facet theory. Presents evidence for a duplex model of avoidance in which theoretical distinctions among modalities of approach-avoidance and context proved empirically relevant. Discusses implications of these findings for the explication, treatment, and…

Defining "willingness to communicate" as the degree to which an individual will talk to others in various situations, a study was conducted to test the hypothesis that a linear composite of the dimensions of communication apprehension and willingness to communicate is significantly related to a linear composite of the dimensions of…

Demonstrates that there are important conceptual distinctions among the constructs of reticence, shyness, communication apprehension, and unwillingness to communicate. Argues that the failure to recognize the distinctions impedes research and precludes improved methods of identifying the problems and improving treatment. (PD)

Tested the use of interviews, specifically the Focus Group Interview technique, to generate information about how high communication apprehensives (CAs) characterize their attitudes, experiences, and behaviors. Found that much of what high CAs said about themselves corresponds with what has been conceptualized and tested quantitatively about…

Two hypotheses were posed in a study that examined the communicative consequences of structured versus nonstructured tasks on subjects with varying levels of communication apprehension (CA): (1) task structure and level of CA will interact to predict behavioral disruption in dyads, and (2) CA and evaluation will interact to predict behavioral…

Evidence suggests that individual difference measures of personality are limited in their ability to predict cross-situational behavior. This limitation has applied to measures of communication-bound anxiety that have generally been developed as unidimensional instruments. A study explored whether a measurement approach based on individual and…

A study investigated the relationship between levels of communication apprehension (high or low) and eight heterosocial (between sexes) communicative behavior variables--conditioned anxiety, heterosocial skills, heterosocial apprehension, activity, proximity, heterosocial expectations, physical attractiveness, and heterosocial importance. In…

Presents two studies that replicated and extended J. K. Burgoon and R. C. Koper's research by examining nonverbal behavior patterns, relational message interpretations, and credibility evaluations associated with communication reticence. Challenges the traditional view that reticence produces pronounced performance decrements and discusses…

These two experiments focus on nonverbal behaviors that might have meaning in defining the relationship between partners and on the broader relational connotations produced by a reticent person's verbal and nonverbal communication style. (PD)

Indicates the existence of such communication dimensions as attentive, relaxed, animated, dominant, impression leaving, communicator image, and apprehension. Finds that high school students who perceived themselves as being relaxed and attentive, low on communication apprehension, and as having a positive view of their communication image also…

Tested an expectations-based model of the cognitive processes leading to communication apprehension. Found that expectations are a significant predictor of communication apprehension as measured by self-reports. Also important were communicative goals and the interaction of expected outcome and goal importance. (PD)

Presents a computer analysis of talk-silence patterns of mixed sex triads related to levels of communication apprehension. Results indicate that high apprehensives talk less, talk less often, and are interrupted less often than low apprehensives. Discusses the implications of computer use in talk-silence behavior research. (JMF)

Researchers have offered a number of explanations for why people occasionally or frequently feel shy in social situations, focusing on behavioral, psychological, or somatic causes. However, each theory encompasses a problem with communication skills. A study examined the communication implications of shyness as reported in definitions by both…