McCroskey and Richmond (1988) on Communication Apprehension
McCroskey, James C., and Virginia P. Richmond. "Communication Apprehension and Small Group Communication." Small Group Communication: A Reader. 5th edn. Ed. Robert S. Cathcart and Larry A. Samovar. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown, 1988. 405-20.
Five causes of communication avoidance
Skill deficiency
Social introversion
Alienation
Ethnic/cultural divergence
Communication apprehension
Four types of CA
Traitlike CA
Context-based CA
Audience-based CA
Situational CA
PRCA Scores
High level of traitlike CA > 85
Average CA = 72
Low level of traitlike CA < 59
20% of population shows high traitlike CA.
"Extreme scores (below 59 or above 85) are abnormal. They suggest that the degree of apprehension you may experience in any given communication situation may not be associated with a realistic response to that situation."
PRCA Subscores/context
24 or above: High CA
12 or below: Low CA
70% High CA in Public Speaking
50% High CA in Meetings
25% High CA in Group
10% High CA in IPC
Effects of Communication Apprehension on Discussion
"It is not an exaggeration to suggest that CA may be the single most important factor in predicting communication behavior in a small group" (McCroskey/Richmond, p. 413).
- Amount of talk
- Nonverbal communication
- Communication content
- Disruption (vocalized pauses, rhetorical interrogatives), irrelevancies
- Avoidance of disagreement
- Failure to generate ideas (possible disruption of thought processes)