Communication Apprehension in the Workplace and Its
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION IN THE WORKPLACE AND ITS EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION by AMBER LYNNE BYRON, B.A. A THESIS IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved Kenneth David Roach Chairperson of the Committee Bolanle A. Olaniran Robert Allen Stewart Accepted John Borrelli Dean of the Graduate School May, 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I need to thank Marc, my fiancé, for always being there for me and supporting me through this project. He has been there from the very beginning, and has seen the many ups and downs of this project. Through it all, he has been there to encourage me and to offer support, as well as new and creative ideas to get things done. As always, he has been and will continue to be my rock. When the stress of this project seemed too much to bear, he was there to encourage me to keep going. He stayed up with me during my all nighters to get my deadlines completed, and without him, this project would not be what it is. For all that he has done, and all the support and love he has shown me, I would like to say thank you, and I love you. I would also like to thank Buddy and Shonie for all of their help with this project. When this project was in its conception stages, they were there to help me in any way that they could. Even when the first plan did not go through as we all hoped that it would, they were there thinking of an alternative plan that eventually turned into the product that I have today. No matter what the situation, I know their love and support are no more than a phone call away. Next, I would like to thank my Mom, Sandy. She has always been there to encourage me through all of the decisions that I have made in my life, and graduate school is no exception. She always let me know that I could do anything that I wanted to do, and has always been there to support me in anyway that she could. While working on this project, she continually called me and offered her support, and was there when I need to just vent and try to get my thoughts together. ii I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Olaniran and Dr. Stewart. Through this project, they have shown me great patience, and have often offered to help. This project has benefited through the wisdom they have shared with me. I would like to thank you for the support that you have both shown me, either through emails or in person, that helped me to stay focused, and know that there was always someone there to turn to when I was lost and needed help. Finally, I would also like to show my appreciation to Dr. Roach. Since the first day I met Dr. Roach, he has been encouraging me and supporting me no matter what the dilemma might be. Through this project, he has been there to guide me and show me the correct way to conduct a valid research study. Although some of the steps taken in this research study were not the greatest time savers, they were the key steps to making this a reliable research study. From working under him, I have learned what it takes to truly complete a full blown research project, and I have a great deal of respect for those who do this for a living. This is by no means an easy thing to complete, and I have learned so much from working under Dr. Roach about completing a well thought out project. I will forever be grateful for the guidance and support that he has shown me through the course of this project. He is the true embodiment of patience. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS….………………………………………………………….. ii ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………. vi LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………………….....viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………. 1 Communication Apprehension………………………………………….. 2 Types of Communication Apprehension…………………………………3 Job Interviews……… ……………………………………………………5 Public Speaking Visualization…………………………………………... 9 Instructional Level……………...……………………………………… 13 Communibiological Apprehension…………………………..………… 19 Behavioral Patterns of Communication Apprehension…………………24 Coping Strategies………………………………………………………. 28 Job Satisfaction………………………………………………………… 31 Employer Immediacy…………………………………………………... 34 Employee Turnover……… …………………………………………... 36 Predicting Satisfaction…………………………………………………. 38 Giving Employees a Voice/Employee Participation……… …………..39 Job Satisfaction Across Cultures………………………………………. 40 University Faculty……………………………………………………... 41 Rehabilitation Professionals…………………………………………… 42 iv Research Questions……………………………………………………. 45 FairMount Minerals…………………………………………………… 47 Products…………………………………………………………………47 II METHODOLOGY AND DISCUSSION……………………………………… 50 Participants……………………………………………………………... 50 Instruments…………………………………………………………….. 50 Procedures……………………………………………………………... 53 Analysis………………………………………………………………... 53 Discussion……………………………………………………………… 64 Limitations………………………………………..……………………. 67 Future Research…………………………………………………………70 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………… 72 APPENDICES A: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE……………………………………………. 77 B: PERSONAL REPORT OF COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION-24………… 80 C: JOB DESCRIPTION INDEX……………………………………………………… 83 D: SITUATIONAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION MEASURE………….. 85 ABSTRACT This research study looks at communication apprehension in the workplace and how it relates to an employee’s level of job satisfaction. For this study, 210 employees who worked for subsidiary companies of FairMount Minerals completed a series of surveys that asked them demographic questions, as well as measured the total level of communication apprehension (PRCA), their level of job satisfaction (JDI), and their level of situational communication apprehension (SCAM). Participants came from several different locations including Fresno, Texas, Bridgman, Oklahoma, Troygrove, Illinois, and Roff, Michigan. When the surveys were completed and returned, the data was entered into SPSS for analysis. Several tests were run on the data, and significant findings were present. I found that as an employee’s level of communication apprehension rose, their level of job satisfaction fell. I also found that as an employee’s level of communication apprehension went up, so did their level of situational apprehension. The results and data are discussed in depth within this report. There are also several limitations as well as future research implications at the end of this research study. While there have been a few studies tying communication apprehension into job satisfaction, more research needs to be done in this area. Many of the communication apprehension studies to date have only looked at communication apprehension in the classroom, or when dealing with stage fright. Studies like this are very important when assessing the types of individuals that are working for a company. As you will see from vi the information provided in this report, this type of information can tell a company why they have a high rate of turnover, or why employees keep putting in for a job change. vii LIST OF TABLES 1: Age ……………………………………………........................................................ 54 2: Age Frequencies ……………………………………………………………………54 3: Number of Years Left with the Company …………………………………………. 55 4: Cultural Background ………………………………………………………………. 56 5: Educational Levels ………………………………………………………………… 57 6: Job Titles …………………………………………………………………………... 58 7: Descriptive Statistics …………………………………………………………......... 61 viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Everyone has had an experience when they have felt nervous talking to someone else. This could be as simple as talking to a new person, or giving a speech to a room full of people. We have all experienced what is known as communication apprehension. A great deal of the research that has been done in the area of communication apprehension revolves around the classroom; giving speeches or presentations to our peers in order to receive a grade. But what happens when we graduate from school and enter the workplace, but are still plagued with communication apprehension? Does it affect the jobs we hold, the satisfaction we experience, or the confidence we hold in the workforce? The general purpose of this study is to look at how communication apprehension affects employees. Although there have been some studies done on communication apprehension in the workplace, there is still many aspects that deserve to be looked at. I hope that through this study, we can begin to see the effect that communication apprehension has on employees, and find suitable ways to deal with it. I also hope that through this study, other research can begin to find out just how communication apprehension manipulates us in the workplace. I will begin this project by reviewing what communication apprehension is, and what its characteristics are. I will then give an overview of job satisfaction, and its role in the workplace. I will attempt to show the need for this study, and provide research questions that delve into the relationship between communication apprehension and its relationship to job satisfaction. After I present my research questions, I will outline my study by showing the method in which I 1 gathered my data as well as the respondents that participated in this study. I will then describe the data I collected and go over the instruments used to analyze it. This will be followed by a discussion of what was found from these results and some concluding statements. Communication Apprehension The most widely accepted definition of communication apprehension was given by McCroskey in 1977 as “fear