State anxiety patterns for public speaking and the behavior inhibition system

Abstract

In previous studies, arousal patterns of public speakers before, during, and after speaking have shown a quadratic pattern that peaks when subjects first begin speaking. This study provides a replication and extension of this research using psychological measures of state speaking anxiety. Gray's (1995) theory of septo‐hippocampal function is used to explain state anxiety processes. The results show a pattern for psychological measures that differs from the established physiological pattern. This psychological pattern is a monotonic function decreasing over the four conventional periods: anticipation, confrontation, adaptation, and release. As peak anxiety occurs during the anticipation phase, additional pedagogical and therapeutic attention should be focused on the pre‐speaking period.