APPREHENSION ABOUT SPEAKING IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING

Among employed persons sampled nationally, approximately 15 36 mere highly apprehensive about communicating orally in the organizational setting (4) In Hawaii research which tapped apprehension in a variety of contexts showed the incidence to be higher than among people elsewhere (2). But none of the contexts related to the organizational environment. This study examined apprehension in Hawaii, specifically as it is perceived in occupationally related speaking situations like conversing with the person in authority, speaking on behalf of the company to outsiders, and expressing opln~ons at company meetings. Since persons highly apprehensive about speaking avoid taking jobs with high communicarion requirements and prefer those with low speaking demands ( 1 ) , the study also investigated apprehension among people in occupations with high and low oral communication requirements. The hypotheses were: (a) apprehension about work-related talk is higher in Hawaii than elsewhere, and (b) higher among people with occupations requiring less communication than among those requiring more. To secure the data, 206 individuals employed in Hawaii during October 1978 completed the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension--Organizational Form (5). Representing 22 organizations, the sample was heterogeneous with respect to occupation, position in the organizational hierarchy, and degree of responsibility. Fiftyfive percent were employed in occupations which previous research (3) had found involved the least amount of time speaking with others (e.g., clerical, technical, skilled. and unskilled jobs) and 45% in occupations requiring more time (e.g., teachers, adminisrrators, engineers, salespeople, and business managers). To test the first hypothesis, the scores of the Hawaii employees (M = 50.22, SD = 11.73) on the self-report form were compared to those of the 243 employed elsewhere in the nation who were used to generate the scale (M = 50.05, SD = 11.50). The simple t test yielded no significant difference between the two samples. To test the second hypothesis, the scores of the Hawaiians employed in occupations with low speaking requirements (M = 52.98, SD = 11.41) were compared to those employees with jobs requiring more speaking (M = 47.96, SD = 11.56). A significant difference (t = 3.12, -p < .05) resulted. Data did not support the hypothesis that apprehension about speaking in the organizational setting is higher in Hawaii than elsewhere but did support the hypothesis that apprehension is higher among employees in occupations requiring less speaking than those requiring more.