| Abstract: | A recent comparative analysis of the constructs of reticence, shyness, communication apprehension, and unwillingness to communicate concluded that there are no important distinctions among these terms. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that there are important conceptual distinctions among these and related constructs. Some of these terms refer to subjective, affective responses, and comprise specific instances of the umbrella construct of social anxiety. Others refer to patterns of overt, social-communicative behaviors. The failure to distinguish between anxiety and behavior results in conceptual confusion, measurement and methodological problems in research, and in unfocused, nonspecific treatments for communication difficulties. Recommendations for the amelioration of conceptual and methodological problems in the area are presented. |
