Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Public Speaking Anxiety

Abstract

Speaking in public is the most commonly reported fear in the general population. Further, public speaking is an important skill for students to advance in their studies and career. The present research investigated three specific aims. Study I aimed to understand the relevance of the different measures of public speaking anxiety. Thus, it investigated whether self- and observer-reported, behavioral, and physiological reactivity measures were related to one another during a speech challenge task. Study II aimed to investigate the role of psychological flexibility in relation to public speaking anxiety. More specifically, it sought to know which psychological flexibility skills were essential to self-reported public speaking anxiety and public speaking distress tolerance. Study III investigated the different effects of two brief self-as-context (hierarchical and distinction) interventions tailored from a Relational Frame Theory (RFT) perspective for public speaking anxiety. Study I included a total of 95 participants. The results revealed that self-reported public speaking anxiety predicted public speaking distress tolerance and speech performance. However, it failed to predict physiological reactivity during a speech challenge. Study II included 95 participants. The results indicated that psychological flexibility was associated with both self-reported public speaking anxiety and public speaking distress tolerance. Furthermore, openness to experiences seemed to be an important skill in relation to self-reported public speaking anxiety. However, regarding public speaking distress tolerance, skills related to behavioral awareness and valued actions were more prominent. The results of Study III (n = 117) suggested that both an intervention derived from hierarchical-self and an intervention derived from distinction-self decreased public speaking anxiety. The comparison group receiving exposure also showed positive changes. These results indicated that different psychological flexibility skills predicted changes in self-reported public speaking anxiety in hierarchical and distinction interventions.