ABSTRACT
This study examines telephone anxiety, a form of communication apprehension associated with making and taking a phone call. We theorize that the use of digital communication technologies can influence how anxious one feels about speaking on the phone. Supporting our theorization, we found a positive correlation between using digital technologies and telephone anxiety. Also, such a correlation was greater among non-native English speakers, indicating that the effect of using digital communications could be greater among people with a language barrier. Lastly, findings demonstrated that telephone anxiety might lead to preferring other forms of communication over a phone conversation.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Leanna T. Kim
Leanna T. Kim is a student at Columbia University in the City of New York. Her academic interests are in economics and political science.
Sang-Hwa Oh
Sang-Hwa Oh is assistant professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research is at the intersection of health/risk communication, emerging media effects (including AI and VR), diffusion of (mis)information, media literacy intervention effect, and roles of differential emotions in the communication process for public health promotion and social change.