Writing Apprehension, Self-Esteem, and Personality

Writing apprehension, a subject and situation specific anxiety about writing, is related to a variety of measures of self-esteem and personality in thirteen separate studies. The apprehension is inversely related to self-esteem, marginally related to some personality measures (alienation, tolerance for ambiguity), inversely associated with math anxiety, and positively correlated with oral communication and reading. The idea that people vary in how they feel about writing is not new. For centuries teachers and authors have alluded to the fact that some people like writing more than others. Yet only recently have systematic investigations probed the nature, correlates, and consequences of this tendency called writing apprehension or writing anxiety. The present article briefly reviews previous research on the construct and then summarizes a series of studies relating the apprehension to self-esteem and some general personality variables. The term writing apprehension was coined by Daly and Miller (1975a). It refers to a situation and subject specific individual difference associated with a person's tendencies to approach or avoid situations perceived to potentially require writing accompanied by some amount of perceived evaluation. While conceptually treated as a continuous person dimension, it is useful, for descriptive purposes, to describe prototypical high and low apprehensive people. High apprehensive individuals find writing unrewarding, indeed punishing. Consequently they avoid, if possible, situations where writing is required. When placed in such situations they experience more than normal amounts of anxiety. This anxiety is often reflected in their written products and in their behaviors in, and attitudes about, writing situations. Low apprehensives represent the other end of the continuum. They don't mind writing, are confident in their abilities to do so, and often enjoy it. Research has associated the apprehension with various choices people make, attitudes they hold, and differences in their writing skills and performance. Writing apprehension has been linked to both academic and occupational decisions (Daly & Shamo, 1976, 1978; Miller & Daly, 1975). Highly Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 17, No. 4, December 1983