Churchill's famous line, "We having nothing to fear but fear itself," underscores an issue which has not received adequate attention in the communication ...
Public Speaking State Anxiety and Anxiety Sensitivity as Predictors of Self-perceived Speaker Competence Lega' K. Strain Texas Christian Uruversity
Chris R. Sawyer Texas Christian University
Ralph Behnke Texas Christian University
Paul E. King Texas Christian University
Communication researchers have examined trait and state anxiety and their effects on public speaking, linking anxiety to communicator competence. In this study, the effects of anxiety sensitivity and state anxiety on self-perceived speaker competence are investigated. Results indicate that the inclusion of anxiety sensitivity increases the predictive value of reported state anxiety levels in predicting levels of communicator competence. Implications for the inclusion of anxiety sensitivity in future research are suggested. Churchill's famous line, "We having nothing to fear but fear itself," underscores an issue which has not received adequate attention in the communication literature. Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of anxiety (Zinbarg, Mohlman, & Hong, 1999), has been the subject of recent, vigorous inquiry by cognitive psychologists (Lilienfeld, 1999). Conceptually distinct from state anxiety (Lilierifeld, Turner, & Jacob, 1998), anxiety sensitivity has been more closely associated with social fears, such as public speaking, than with personality dimensions such as neuroticism (Norton, Cox, Hewitt, & McLeod, 1997). Given the nature of the construct as a social phenomenon, anxiety sensitivity offers the opportunity for commurucation scholars to better explicate the cognitive relatior\ships between important self-percepLega' Strain (M.S., Texas Christian University, 1999) was a Graduate Assistant Instructor in the Department of Speech Communication at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, 76129. Chris R. Sawyer (Ph.D., University of North Texas, 1992) is Assistant Professor of Speech Communication at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, 76129. Ralph R. Behnke (Ph.D., University of Kansas, 1966) is a Professor of Speech Communication at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, 76129. Paul E. King (Ph.D., University of North Texas, 1985) is Associate Professor of Speech Communication at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, 76129. COMMUNICATION RESEARCH REPORTS, Volume 18, Number 2, pages 174-181
Self-Perceived Speaker Competence - Page 175
tions such as performance, competence, fear and evaluation. This is important since such cognitive phenomena have long been associated with effectiveness during and before speech performance (Meyer, 1997). The purpose of this study is to investigate the conceptual and empirical distinctions between state anxiety and anxiety sensitivity as they relate to and predict self-perceived communication competence. Background and Statement of the Problem
Competence in speech communication has been investigated from the perspectives of both observer and source. Spitzberg (1983) argues that communication competence is best evaluated using observer iriferences. However, research in the context of public speaking presumes the importance of understanding not only the behaviors that the communicator can perform from an audience's point of view, but also the evaluations that communicators make from their ov^m experiences (Ayers, 1986). This cognitive orientation to corrunimication competence has been studied in the context of classroom commurucation (Rubin, Rubin, & Jordan, 1997) as well as interpersonal settings (Rubin, Martin, Briming, & Powers, 1993). In public speaking, observers often misinterpret a speaker's anxiety (Behnke, Sawyer, & King, 1987; Freeman, Sawyer, & Behnke, 1997; Sawyer & Behnke, 1996). As a result, selfreport measures of state aruciety are often employed in public speaking studies. Likewise, self perceptions of competence and the anxiety experience itself should play important roles in determining the extent to which speakers report anxiety during performance. Self-Perceived Competence
In a study conducted by Chesebro, McCroskey, Atwater, Bahrenfuss, Caweiti, Gaudino, and Hodges (1992), academically at-risk students reported higher levels of commimication apprehension and lower levels of self-perceived speaker competence when compared to natiorial norn«. Since the degree of academic success in school is influenced by commurucation interaction in class (i.e., participation in class discussion, asking and/or answering questions; seeking help from teachers and peers), having high levels of commimication apprehension and low levels of self-perceived communication competence inhibits active participation, and hence, success in school. In a follow-up study, Rosenfeld, Grant, and McCroskey (1995), reasoned that since at-risk students were academically challenged because of high communication apprehension and low communication competence, acadenucally talented students were more likely to report low levels of commurucation apprehension and high levels of self-perceived communication competence. This hypothesis was supported. Commenting on this line of research these scholars concluded, "taken together results of the present investigation and of the Chesebro et al. study point to what might be the key communication variables affecting academic success: apprehension about speaking in groups, and self-perceived competency in speaking to strangers" (Rosenfeld, Grant, & McCroskey, 1995, p. 79). Moreover, a longitudinal study by Rubin, Rubin & Jordan (1997) demonstrated that commurucation instruction extends the inverse correlation: self-perceived communication competence increases and communication apprehension decreases over the course of public speaking training. These studies underscore ihe relationship between anxiety during public performance and self-perceived communication competence.' Richmond, McCroskey, and McCroskey (1989) suggest that people who report high levels of trait-like communication apprehension produce different cogrutions conceming speaker competence than those who report low levels of communication apprehension. In
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sum, it may be more important to examine what people think will happen as a result of anxiousness as opposed to how often people experience aruciety (McNally, 1996). This fundamental concept may be essential in assessing the relationship between competence and anxiety. As an important example, anxious speakers engage in significantly different preperformance behaviors than non-anxious speakers, including the selection of less appropriate topics and reduced sensitivity to situational cor\straints (Daly, Vangelisti, Neel & Cavanaugh, 1989). This pre-performance reaction could be the manifestation of a sensitivity to the prospect of experiencing state anxiety. Anxiety sensitivity Anxiety serisitivity, often called the fear of anxiety, stems from the belief that anxiety symptoms such as increased somatic sensations have harmful consequences (Reiss, 1987; Reiss, 1991). Ur\like trait arixiety, which refers to a disposition to respond under stressful conditions, aruciety serisitivity is a specific reaction tendency (McNally, 1989; 1996). For example, people with high levels of aruiety serisitivity may perceive heart palpitatioris during public speaking as an indicator of a heart attack, while individuals with low levels of aruciety sensitivity perceive these symptoms as unpleasant, but certainly not life threatening. While communication scholars (BehrJ
