A research note on the dimensions of communication reticence

The present investigation extends the debate regarding the underlying structure of a general communication reticence construct. The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, the Unwillingness‐to‐Communicate Scale and the Writing Apprehension Test were factor‐analyzed. Separate factor analyses produced multidimensional solutions for each measure. A single factor analysis of all of the scale items produced a seven factor solution that offers a better understanding of the elements contributing to a communication reticence syndrome. The emerging factors indicated that communication reticence varies according to context of communication, mode of communication, personality type of the communicator, attitudes toward the communication process, and communication history.

[1]  Gustav W. Friedrich,et al.  The development of communication apprehension: A retrospective analysis of contributory correlates , 1981 .

[2]  D. Porter.  AN EMPIRICAL APPRAISAL OF THE PRCA FOR MEASURING ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION , 1981 .

[3]  James C. McCroskey,et al.  ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION: A SUMMARY OF RECENT THEORY AND RESEARCH , 1977 .

[4]  Gerald M. Phillips,et al.  The reticent syndrome: Some theoretical considerations about etiology and treatment , 1973 .

[5]  M. Tatsuoka.  Multivariate Analysis Techniques for Educational and Psychological Research , 1971 .

[6]  Jerold L. Hale,et al.  Dimensions of communication reticence and their impact on verbal encoding , 1983 .

[7]  James C. McCroskey,et al.  Validity of the PRCA as an index of oral communication apprehension , 1978 .

[8]  Michael D. Miller,et al.  The Empirical Development of an Instrument to Measure Writing Apprehension. , 1975 .

[9]  T. Clevenger.  A synthesis of experimental research in stage fright , 1959 .

[10]  J. Daly.  COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND BEHAVIOR: APPLYING A MULTIPLE ACT CRITERIA1 , 1978 .

[11]  John A. Daly,et al.  Further Studies on Writing Apprehension: SAT Scores, Success Expectations, Willingness to Take Advanced Courses, and Sex Differences. , 1975 .

[12]  Michael D. Miller,et al.  Apprehension of Writing as a Predictor of Message Intensity. , 1975, The Journal of psychology.

[13]  Judee K. Burgoon,et al.  The unwillingness‐to‐communicate scale: Development and validation , 1976 .

[14]  Robert D. McPhee,et al.  A new analysis of Daly's “assessment of social‐communicative anxiety via self reports: A comparison of measures” , 1980 .

[15]  Malcolm R. Parks.  A test of the cross‐situational consistency of communication apprehension , 1980 .

[16]  Lawrence R. Wheeless.  An Investigation of Receiver Apprehension and Social Context Dimensions of Communication Apprehension. , 1975 .

[17]  Michael J. Beatty,et al.  Toward the Development of Cognitively Experienced Speech Anxiety Scales. , 1976 .

[18]  J. Burgoon,et al.  Unwillingness to communicate, anomia-alienation, and communication apprehension as predictors of small group communication. , 1974, The Journal of psychology.

[19]  James C. McCroskey,et al.  Measures of communication‐bound anxiety , 1970 .

[20]  M. W. Lustig,et al.  THE MEASUREMENT OF VERBAL PREDISPOSITIONS: SCALE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION , 1977 .

[21]  Ralph R. Behnke,et al.  AN ASSIMILATION THEORY PERSPECTIVE OF COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION , 1980 .

[22]  J. Daly.  A response to Seibold and McPhee's reanalysis , 1980 .

[23]  Philip G. Zimbardo,et al.  Shyness: What it is What to Do About it , 1977 .

[24]  Ralph R. Behnke,et al.  Situational determinants of communication apprehension , 1978 .

[25]  Ralph R. Behnke,et al.  A cognitive‐physiological model of speech anxiety , 1981 .

[26]  Gerald M. Phillips,et al.  Reticence: Pathology of the normal speaker , 1968 .

[27]  John A. Daly,et al.  The assessment of social‐communicative anxiety via self‐reports: A comparison of measures , 1978 .