Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA)

Abstract

The Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA), created by James C. McCroskey in 1970, stands as a foundational self-report measure in communication studies and psychology. It is specifically designed to quantify an individual’s trait-level fear and nervousness associated with public speaking anxiety (often termed glossophobia). The scale captures the psychological and physiological responses experienced across the entire speaking process, from initial preparation and anticipation to the actual delivery of a formal presentation.

Comprising 34 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale, the PRPSA aggregates responses into a single score ranging from 34 to 170. This score permits the diagnostic classification of respondents into categories of low, moderate, or high anxiety. Its robust psychometric properties make it an essential instrument for academic research, student assessment, and the development of targeted intervention programs aimed at reducing speech-related fear and communication apprehension.

Keywords

Public speaking anxiety, Glossophobia, Communication apprehension, Speech anxiety, Measurement, McCroskey, Self-report scale, Communication competence, Trait anxiety, Psychological assessment, Psychometrics, Educational intervention.

Authors

James C. McCroskey

Purpose

The fundamental purpose of the PRPSA is to serve as a reliable and efficient measure of trait anxiety specialized for the context of public performance. Unlike broad measures of generalized anxiety, the PRPSA precisely isolates the cognitive, affective, and physiological responses that are triggered by the prospect or reality of delivering a formal speech to an audience.

This specialized focus allows researchers and educators to accurately quantify the severity of an individual’s fear of speaking, known technically as glossophobia. The assessment is vital in educational settings, particularly in communication courses, where scores are used for diagnostic classification (e.g., identifying students with high anxiety) to guide placement into specialized anxiety reduction programs, such as systematic desensitization.

Construct

The PRPSA operationalizes the psychological construct of Context-Based Communication Apprehension, specifically focusing on the high-stakes environment of public speaking. Communication apprehension (CA) is broadly defined as “an individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons.” The PRPSA narrows this definition to isolate the fear experienced when the communication context is formal, prepared, and involves an audience.

The 34 items are carefully constructed to capture the multifaceted nature of the anxiety response. These dimensions include tangible physical symptoms (e.g., rapid heartbeat, hand trembling, perspiration), internal cognitive distress (e.g., confused thoughts, fear of memory failure), and anticipatory behavioral symptoms (e.g., dreading the assignment, difficulty sleeping). By measuring these various indicators, the PRPSA successfully establishes public speaking anxiety as a stable, measurable psychological trait.

Validity

The validity of the PRPSA has been firmly established through decades of research following its initial validation by McCroskey (1970). The scale demonstrates strong face validity, as its items directly reflect the commonly reported cognitive and physical symptoms associated with speech anxiety.

Furthermore, the instrument exhibits robust concurrent validity, correlating highly with other established measures of generalized communication fear, such as the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA). Its predictive validity is evidenced by its ability to forecast real-world behavioral outcomes: individuals scoring highly on the PRPSA are consistently found to receive lower subjective performance evaluations and display greater objective physiological arousal (e.g., elevated heart rate) both before and during presentations, thus supporting its measurement of the manifest symptoms of communication apprehension.

Reliability

The PRPSA is highly regarded for its exceptional internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Across diverse samples and settings, the scale consistently produces high Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, frequently exceeding 0.90. This indicates that the 34 items are highly intercorrelated and measure a single, unified underlying construct with great homogeneity.

The instrument also demonstrates robust test-retest reliability over appropriate time intervals, confirming that the PRPSA assesses a stable, enduring trait characteristic of the individual, rather than merely a temporary state of nervousness. This solid psychometric foundation ensures that the scale provides dependable and consistent measurements essential for longitudinal research and clinical diagnosis.

Factor Analysis

Although the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety is conventionally employed as a unidimensional scale, yielding a single total score reflecting overall anxiety severity, some exploratory factor analysis studies have suggested potential multi-factor structures. These structures often reflect the temporal progression of anxiety relative to the speaking event.

The commonly identified sub-components include:

• Anticipatory Anxiety: Fear, tension, and worry experienced during the preparation phase and the moments immediately preceding the speech delivery.
• In-Situation Anxiety: Physiological symptoms and cognitive disorganization experienced while the individual is actively delivering the presentation.
• Post-Speech Evaluation Anxiety: Concerns, worry, and self-criticism related to the perception of performance quality and audience judgment.

Despite the existence of these potential sub-factors, the extremely high inter-correlation among the 34 items means that the aggregated total score remains the standard, most reliable, and widely accepted method for quantifying overall public speaking anxiety.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire / Psychometric scale

Format: 34 items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale response format (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree).

Language Available: Primarily English, with translations validated in many international languages.

Population Group: Educational and clinical settings.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults.

Population Details: Originally standardized on college student populations enrolled in introductory communication and speech courses. Applicable to any adult population facing formal presentation requirements.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with 34 statements describing feelings, thoughts, and physical reactions related to public speaking. Scoring involves summing scores from 22 anxiety-positive items and reversing scores from 12 anxiety-negative items. The final score is calculated using the formula: PRPSA = 72 – Total (Reversed Items) + Total (Anxiety Items). Scores range from 34 to 170, with scores above 131 typically indicating high anxiety.

Keywords

Psychological measurement, Speech communication, Communication competence, Trait anxiety, Student assessment, Psychometrics, Fear of speaking, Educational intervention.

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 PRPSA was initially developed and published in 1970. The instrument is generally regarded as non-proprietary for academic research and educational applications, particularly when utilized in its original format as published by McCroskey. It is widely accessible and often provided freely by the original author or his estate for non-commercial purposes. The official instrument and related information can be accessed online here: http://www.jamescmccroskey.com/measures/prpsa.htm

Reference’s

McCroskey, J. C. (1970). Measures of communication-bound anxiety. Speech Monographs, 37, 269-277.

Items of the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

• While preparing for giving a speech, I feel tense and nervous.
• I feel tense when I see the words “speech” and “public speech” on a course outline when studying.
• My thoughts become confused and jumbled when I am giving a speech.
• Right after giving a speech I feel that I have had a pleasant experience.
• I get anxious when I think about a speech coming up.
• I have no fear of giving a speech.
• Although I am nervous just before starting a speech, I soon settle down after starting and feel calm and comfortable.
• I look forward to giving a speech.
• When the instructor announces a speaking assignment in class, I can feel myself getting tense.
• My hands tremble when I am giving a speech.
• I feel relaxed while giving a speech.
• I enjoy preparing for a speech.
• I am in constant fear of forgetting what I prepared to say.
• I get anxious if someone asks me something about my topic that I don’t know.
• I face the prospect of giving a speech with confidence.
• I feel that I am in complete possession of myself while giving a speech.
• My mind is clear when giving a speech.
• I do not dread giving a speech.
• I perspire just before starting a speech.
• My heart beats very fast just as I start a speech.
• I experience considerable anxiety while sitting in the room just before my speech starts.
• Certain parts of my body feel very tense and rigid while giving a speech.
• Realizing that only a little time remains in a speech makes me very tense and anxious.
• While giving a speech, I know I can control my feelings of tension and stress.
• I breathe faster just before starting a speech.
• I feel comfortable and relaxed in the hour or so just before giving a speech.
• I do poorer on speeches because I am anxious.
• I feel anxious when the teacher announces the date of a speaking assignment.
• When I make a mistake while giving a speech, I find it hard to concentrate on the parts that follow.
• During an important speech I experience a feeling of helplessness building up inside me.
• I have trouble falling asleep the night before a speech.
• My heart beats very fast while I present a speech.
• I feel anxious while waiting to give my speech.
• While giving a speech, I get so nervous I forget facts I really know.

Scoring Instructions Summary:

The scale uses a 5-point rating system (Strongly Disagree = 1; Disagree = 2; Neutral = 3; Agree = 4; Strongly Agree = 5).

1. Add scores for anxiety-positive items (1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34). (Total from Step 1)
2. Add the scores for anxiety-negative items (4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, and 26). (Total from Step 2)
3. Calculate the final score using the formula: PRPSA = 72 – Total from Step 2 + Total from Step 1.

Scores range from 34 to 170. High anxiety is generally defined as scores greater than 131, while low anxiety is less than 98.