Reports on research into the communication of speech state anxiety between adjacent speakers in the speaking order in a public speaking setting. Finds, based on classical response contagion theory, that public speaking state anxiety in an educational setting is contagious. Discusses possible consequences, and advances suggestions for future…

Develops a typology of strategies people use to cope with public speaking anxiety. Assesses the influences of anxiety level on strategy use. Finds 65 basic tactics in 6 strategy types (Relaxation, Preparation, Positive Thinking, Audience Depreciation, Concentration, and Resignation). Finds high anxious persons more likely to report Relaxation and…

Investigates whether variations in five audience characteristics (size, status, familiarity, similarity, and behavior) are related to audience anxiety. Supports the contention that the effect of situational factors are greatly tempered by an individual's predisposition to respond anxiously. Discusses instructional implications of these findings.…

In light of inconsistent research findings, a study examined the relationship of traitlike public speaking apprehension to the competence of public speakers, as well as the mediating role of gender in that relationship. Subjects, 105 students from a variety of majors and enrolled in 7 sections of a public speaking fundamentals course at a southern…

Examines the narrative accounts of the aesthetic performance experience as related by high communication apprehensives (HCA's) and low communication apprehensives (LCA's). Indicates that while both HCA's and LCA's commonly label themselves as apprehensive about performance, their characterizations of the performance experience differ significantly…

A study examined the impact of self-confrontation (self-viewing of videotaped speeches) on student public speaking apprehension. Subjects, 112 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory public speaking classes who were confronted with their videotaped speeches (as post-performance feedback), did not experience a reduction in their public…

A study examined the effects of controlling situational factors (i.e., instructional interventions) on reducing state anxiety level of low and high public speaking apprehensives. Subjects were 306 undergraduates enrolled in the basic public speaking course at a midwestern university during the 1988-1989 academic year. Situational factors tested…

This study examined communication apprehension (CA) as a potential barrier to student academic success. Prior research implicated CA as a primary predictor of both interpersonal and academic success. Based on the past research of J. McCroskey and others, it was hypothesized that high CA students would maintain lower grade point averages (GPA) and…

A study investigated listening and oral communication apprehension in high school and college students from the United States and Australia. The subjects were 355 students from the United States (133 high school females, 109 high school males, 65 college females, and 46 college males), and 339 students from Australia (73 high school females, 91…

A study examined the relative effectiveness and synergistic effect of two treatments for reducing speech anxiety--Self-Statement Modification (SSM), a therapy focused on modification of cognitive behavior; and Modified Desensitization (MD), a therapy focused on physiological variables, utilizing relaxation training, group hierarchy construction,…

Appraisal, coping, task performance, and cardiovascular responses were examined among men high and low in speech anxiety who prepared and performed a speech under evaluative conditions. Speech-anxious men saw the task as more threatening. They were more stressed, anxious, distracted, and aware of their emotions, focused on the passage of time, and…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: an informal communication process with implications for information retrieval; a rhetorical approach to the nonsexist language controversy; a validation study of…