Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self‐perceived competence

TLDR

The study examined age and sex differences in willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self‑perceived competence using junior high, high school, and university student cohorts. The researchers collected data from these three age cohorts to assess how willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self‑perceived competence varied by age and sex. Junior high females reported higher willingness to communicate than males, while university females exhibited greater communication apprehension and lower self‑perceived competence than male peers; across all cohorts, apprehension and competence were negatively correlated, and the predictors of willingness to communicate differed by sex—apprehension predicted willingness to communicate in women, whereas competence predicted it in men.

Abstract

Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate (WTC), communication apprehension, and self‐perceived communication competence were examined using three age cohorts of participants drawn from junior high, high school, and university student populations. Results indicate that junior high females are higher in WTC than their male counterparts and females at the university level are higher in communication apprehension and lower in self‐perceived competence than are male university students. Communication apprehension and self‐perceived competence show a consistent negative relationship that does not vary with age or sex in the present sample. The degree to which communication apprehension arid self‐perceived competence predict WTC varies with age and sex. In all three age cohorts, communication apprehension is a significant predictor of WTC among women. Among men, self‐perceived competence emerges as a significant predictor of WTC in all three age groups.