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A series of studies present the development and validation of the Communication Anxiety Regulation Scale (CARS), a self-report measure designed to assess the use of emotion regulation strategies to manage acute communication anxiety—in contrast to measures of general emotion regulation tendencies. Study 1 delineates the item derivation and selection process that yielded the final 12 CARS items. Results of an exploratory factor analysis supported the existence of four distinct subscales, each representing one of four anxiety regulation strategies (suppression, reappraisal, avoidance, and venting). Study 2 confirmed this factor structure and also examined correlations of the CARS with existing measures in an attempt to establish concurrent validity. Finally, Study 3 presents results of an item-sort task demonstrating the scale’s face validity and items’ substantive validity. Overall, findings provide preliminary support for the utility of the CARS as measure of communication anxiety regulation to be used by communication and psychology researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether cross-cultural differences in communication apprehension (CA) can be explained with regard to cultural orientations, personality traits and component theory. To this end, a total of 618 undergraduates, studying in Taiwan (n = 298) and the United States (n = 320), participated in this study. Participants filled out the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension along with Self-Construal Scale, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Self-Perceived Communication Competence scale. The results indicated that Chinese in Taiwan scored significantly higher in communication apprehension than Americans. The influence of culture on CA was mediated by independence self-construal, neuroticism, extroversion,fear of negative evaluation, and communication competence. The strongest mediating effect was found for self-perception of communication competence. The implications of these findings were further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]