Date of Award
Fall 1986
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
Program/Concentration
Psychology
Committee Director
Robin J. Lewis
Committee Member
Thomas F. Cash
Committee Member
Valerian J. Derlega
Call Number for Print
Special Collections LD4331.P65T72
Abstract
The present study tested the hypothesis that trait speech-anxious females use reports of speech anxiety symptoms and self-statements reflecting speech anxiety as a self-handicapping strategy to preserve their self-esteem when confronted with an evaluative threat situation. Forty-eight college females, classified into high and low speech anxiety groups on the basis of their responses to the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker (PRCS; Paul, 1966), served as subjects, It was predicted that trait speech-anxious subjects would report more speech anxiety symptoms and self-statements reflecting speech anxiety in an evaluative setting in which speech anxiety could serve as an explanation for poor performance than would trait speech-anxious subjects in either (a) an evaluative setting in which speech anxiety was precluded as an excuse or (b) a nonevaluative setting. Furthermore, it was predicted that this self-protective pattern of symptom reporting would not occur for subjects who were not trait speech-anxious because these persons would not commonly use such symptoms as a self-handicapping strategy. The results did not support these predictions. Several explanations are offered for the lack of expected results in the study. It is possible that the self-handicapping effect does not operate with regard to speech anxiety or that methodological problems in the current study explain these findings.
Rights
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DOI
10.25777/vwag-0f84
Recommended Citation
Travis, Gerald M..
"Speech Anxiety as a Self-Handicapping Strategy"
(1986). Master of Science (MS), Thesis, Psychology, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/vwag-0f84
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/797