Worry as a function of public speaking state anxiety type

Abstract

Although most speakers become progressively more comfortable while presenting public speeches, a process called habituation, many others experience increased psychological discomfort, usually during the first moments of their presentations. Previous researchers refer to this phenomenon as sensitization. One explanation for these pattern differences is that excessive worrying disrupts the processing of emotional stimuli thereby contributing to sensitization. In the present study, 60 speakers, 30 of each pattern type, present five‐minute informative speeches to audiences composed of 20 peers plus an instructor. Immediately following the presentations, speakers indicate the degree to which they made negative self‐statements while speaking. The results demonstrate that sensitizers report more worrisome thoughts during public speaking than habituators. In the present study, differences in pattern type account for 39.6% of the variance in worry during public speaking.