The Relation Between Public Speaking Anxiety and Behavior: Unraveling the Role of Self-Perception

Introduction. Because public speaking anxiety is among the most common social fears, yet still has a knowledge gap, the aim of our study was to 1) investigate in how far adolescents’ behavior when presenting is related to their reported level of public speaking anxiety [PSA], and 2) explore if self-perception plays a role in this relationship. It was expected that adolescents with PSA show less expressiveness, appear less confident, and show more agitated behavior. Furthermore, we expected that self-perception plays a mediating role between PSA and behavior. Method. The sample consisted of 41 adolescents (11-17 years old) who met the criteria for a social anxiety disorder, and were asked to give a presentation while their behavior was coded for analysis. However, only 14 participants had all the necessary data for both analyses. Data was collected using the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety [PRPSA], Speech Performance Observation Scale for Youth [SPOSY], and the Competence...Show moreIntroduction. Because public speaking anxiety is among the most common social fears, yet still has a knowledge gap, the aim of our study was to 1) investigate in how far adolescents’ behavior when presenting is related to their reported level of public speaking anxiety [PSA], and 2) explore if self-perception plays a role in this relationship. It was expected that adolescents with PSA show less expressiveness, appear less confident, and show more agitated behavior. Furthermore, we expected that self-perception plays a mediating role between PSA and behavior. Method. The sample consisted of 41 adolescents (11-17 years old) who met the criteria for a social anxiety disorder, and were asked to give a presentation while their behavior was coded for analysis. However, only 14 participants had all the necessary data for both analyses. Data was collected using the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety [PRPSA], Speech Performance Observation Scale for Youth [SPOSY], and the Competence Perception Scale for Adolescents [CBSA]. Data was analyzed using a MANOVA and through mediation analysis. Results. No significant correlations were found between PSA and expressiveness (p = .532), PSA and lack of confidence (p = .118), or PSA and agitation (p = .833). Furthermore, results showed that PSA and self-perception were correlated (p = .011), but self-perception and lack of confidence (p = .275), or self-perception and agitation (p = .100) were not. For self-perception and expressiveness, we did find a significant result, but the proportion mediated effect indicated no partial mediation. Discussion. Based on our results, we cannot accept our hypotheses. In our study, there is no relation between PSA and behavior while presenting, nor does self-perception play a mediating role. We expect that we did not find significant results due to our low sample size and not having a control group. Another possibility is that adolescents have learned more presenting skills by being exposed to presenting in school. Because knowledge on this topic is scarce, our study is a valuable contribution to an underrepresented topic. However, more research is needed to understand how public speaking anxiety, self-perception and behavior interact with each other.Show less

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The Relation Between Public Speaking Anxiety and Behavior: Unraveling the Role of Self-Perception