Minority Groups and Communication Apprehension : An investigation of Kurdistan

Abstract

This study explores communication apprehension among the Iranian Kurdish minority group. Based on a sample of 157 self-administered surveys, the study investigates the relative communication apprehension (CA) score of Iranian Kurds and the influence of sex, age, and education on CA. Results revealed Kurds are relatively less apprehensive than many other cultures. It was also revealed that women have significantly higher levels of dyadic, public, and total CA. Moreover, all CA contexts (dyadic, groups, meeting, and public) and total CA tended to increase after grade 9 and decrease after completing high school. Age however, only had a modest effect on meeting CA. The findings propose higher levels of social encounters reduce the amount of CA among Kurds. Implications, limitations, and areas of future research are posited.