Willingness To Communicate (WTC)

Abstract

The Willingness To Communicate (WTC) scale, developed by McCroskey and Richmond in 1987, is a widely used instrument in psychometrics designed to measure an individual’s inherent, trait-like predisposition to initiate communication across various situations and with different types of receivers. It assesses the frequency with which a person chooses to speak when given the opportunity, reflecting motivational aspects of communication behavior rather than communication skill or competence.

The scale consists of 20 hypothetical communication situations, requiring respondents to report the percentage of time they would choose to communicate in each scenario, utilizing a 0 to 100 response range. The resulting scores provide insights into general WTC, as well as specific scores related to communication context (e.g., public speaking, group discussion) and receiver type (e.g., stranger, friend).

Keywords

Willingness To Communicate (WTC), communication trait, communication apprehension, communication behavior, self-report scale, interpersonal communication, public speaking, psychometrics.

Authors

James C. McCroskey, Virginia P. Richmond.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Willingness To Communicate (WTC) scale is to provide a quantitative measure of an individual’s general tendency to approach or avoid communication. This measure is crucial for researchers and practitioners in communication studies and education who seek to understand and predict an individual’s communication activity level across diverse social settings.

The scale helps differentiate between individuals who are generally motivated to initiate talk and those who prefer to remain silent. By utilizing sub-scores based on context and receiver, the WTC provides a detailed profile, allowing for targeted intervention strategies, particularly in educational settings focused on reducing communication avoidance or addressing issues related to communication apprehension.

Construct

The Willingness To Communicate (WTC) scale is grounded in Trait Theory, conceptualizing WTC as a relatively stable, personality-based predisposition. The construct is defined as the frequency with which an individual chooses to initiate communication when free to do so.

WTC is viewed as a terminal orientation—the final outcome of several internal processes, including communication apprehension, introversion, and perceived communication competence. A high WTC score suggests a readiness to engage in communication, while a low score often indicates avoidance behaviors, which may be linked directly to situational or generalized communication apprehension.

Validity

The validity of the WTC scale has been extensively investigated since its introduction. McCroskey (1992) provided foundational evidence supporting both the content and construct validity of the instrument. Construct validity is demonstrated through the scale’s predictable inverse relationship with measures of shyness and communication apprehension, and a positive correlation with measures of sociability and extraversion.

Furthermore, studies have confirmed the scale’s ability to predict actual communication behavior in naturalistic settings. The structure of the WTC scale, which incorporates different receivers and contexts, ensures strong content validity, covering the breadth of communication scenarios relevant to daily life.

Reliability

The WTC scale has demonstrated strong internal consistency and temporal stability across numerous studies. Internal reliability, typically measured using Cronbach’s alpha, consistently shows high coefficients (often exceeding 0.90 for the overall scale), indicating that the 20 items measure a unified underlying construct.

The sub-scales, which measure specific contexts and receivers, also typically maintain acceptable levels of reliability, although these coefficients are slightly lower than the total score due to fewer items. Test-retest reliability has been established over short and long periods, supporting the theoretical foundation that WTC is a stable, trait-like characteristic.

Factor Analysis

Multiple studies utilizing Factor Analysis have supported the multidimensional structure of the WTC scale. While a general WTC factor often accounts for a large portion of the variance, confirming its trait-like nature, the instrument is designed to capture variance based on two key dimensions: Context and Receiver.

The context factors typically include Group Discussion, Meetings, Interpersonal, and Public Speaking. The receiver factors include Stranger, Acquaintance, and Friend. The clear factor structure validates the scoring methodology, allowing researchers to examine not just general communication willingness, but specific patterns of willingness depending on who the individual is speaking to and where the interaction is taking place.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire, psychological measure of communication trait.

Format: 20 items responded to on a percentage scale ranging from 0 (Never) to 100 (Always).

Language Available: Primarily English, but widely translated and utilized in cross-cultural research (e.g., studies cited include Iranian EFL learners).

Population Group: General population, widely used with college students and adults.

Age Group: Adolescents and adults capable of understanding the hypothetical scenarios and percentage response format.

Population Details: The scale measures a fundamental communication predisposition relevant across various demographic and cultural groups, although cultural differences in WTC have been noted (McCroskey & Richmond, 1990).

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate the percentage of time they would choose to communicate in 20 specific situations. Scoring involves calculating the mean percentage score for the total scale (WTC Total), Context-type sub-scores, and Receiver-type sub-scores. All resulting scores fall within the 0 to 100 range. The original instrument and scoring details are available online at the author’s official website: http://www.jamescmccroskey.com/measures/WTC.htm.

Keywords

Psychological assessment, communication motivation, social communication, self-disclosure, trait measurement, factor analysis, psychometrics.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was originally published in 1987 by McCroskey & Richmond. The instrument is generally available for academic and non-commercial research use, often without charge, as is common with many scales developed by James C. McCroskey. Specific permissions or fees should be confirmed by contacting the primary author’s estate or associated institutions.

Reference’s

• McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1987). Willingness to communicate. In J. C. McCroskey & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Personality and interpersonal communication (pp. 119-131). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
• McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1990). Willingness to communicate: Differing cultural perspectives. Southern Communication Journal, 56(1), 72-77.
• McCroskey, J. C. (1992). Reliability and validity of the willingness to communicate scale. Communication Quarterly, 40, 16-25.
• Modirkhameneha, Sima & Firouzmand, Ali (2014) Iranian EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate and Language Learning Orientations. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98; 1134-1139.

Items of the Willingness To Communicate (WTC)

Instructions: Indicate the percentage of time you would choose to communicate in each situation (0 = Never to 100 = Always).

1. Talk with a service station attendant.
2. Talk with a physician.
3. Present a talk to a group of strangers.
4. Talk with an acquaintance while standing in line.
5. Talk with a salesperson in a store.
6. Talk in a large meeting of friends.
7. Talk with a police officer.
8. Talk in a small group of strangers.
9. Talk with a friend while standing in line.
10. Talk with a waiter/waitress in a restaurant.
11. Talk in a large meeting of acquaintances.
12. Talk with a stranger while standing in line.
13. Talk with a secretary.
14. Present a talk to a group of friends.
15. Talk in a small group of acquaintances.
16. Talk with a garbage collector.
17. Talk in a large meeting of strangers.
18. Talk with a spouse (or girl/boyfriend).
19. Talk in a small group of friends.
20. Present a talk to a group of acquaintances.

Scoring

All scores, total and sub-scores, will fall in the range of 0 to 100.

Context-type sub-scores:

• Group Discussion: Add scores for items 8, 15, & 19; then divide by 3.
• Meetings: Add scores for items 6, 11, 17; then divide by 3.
• Interpersonal: Add scores for items 4, 9, 12; then divide by 3.
• Public Speaking: Add scores for items 3, 14, 20; then divide by 3.

Receiver-type sub-scores:

• Stranger: Add scores for items 3, 8, 12, 17; then divide by 4.
• Acquaintance: Add scores for items 4, 11, 15, 20; then divide by 4.
• Friend: Add scores for items 6, 9, 14, 19; then divide by 4.

To compute the total WTC score, add the sub scores for stranger, acquaintance, and friend. Then divide by 3.