To function effectively in today's society, people must communicate with each other. However, for some individuals, communication experiences are so unrewarding that they consciously or unconsciously avoid situations in which communication is required. (McCroskey & Richmond, 1979) The term “communication apprehension” was coined by James McCroskey (1976a) and is defined as “an individual's level of fear or anxiety associated with actual or anticipated communication with another person or people.” (McCroskey, 1984 ). Over the past two decades, communication apprehension and related constructs, such as reticence and reluctance to communicate, have received extensive research and theoretical attention from communication and psychology scholars. In 1984, Payne and Richmond listed over 1000 entries in a bibliography of publications and articles in this area (Payne & Richmond, 1984). The underlying theme of the articles was above all the negative effects that these constructs can have on academic and social success. It has been reported that two in ten people suffer from some form of communication apprehension (CA). The focus of this article is on communication apprehension as a construct and how this influences an individual's behavior and lifestyle. Although constructs such as CA, communicative reticence, and reluctance to communicate have often been treated as interchangeable in the literature ( McCroskey, 1982 ), particularly in previous work, some researchers have found the need to distinguish them. Reticence was originally thought to be related to AC, particularly related to stage fright, and anxiety was identified as the causal agent producing the characteristic behavioral patterns. (McCroskey, 1977b; McCroskey, 1982) However, during the 1970s the constructs of reticence and AC evolved and changed to become quite disparate. According to McCroskey (1982) the contemporary view is that reticent people are those who do not communicate competently. Phillips (1984) also states that reticent people “avoid communication because they believe they lose more by speaking than by remaining silent” (p.52). Thus, while the construct of reticence was initially the same as AC, reticence is now perceived as a concept representing a broad range of communicative incompetence while AC refers to communicative incompetence that arises from......half of paper.... ..reported communication skills: Finnish and American comparisons. Communication Research Reports, Vol. 8, June 55-64.McCroskey, J.C. & Sheahan, M.E. (1978). Communication apprehension, social preference and social behavior in a university environment. Communications Quarterly, 26, 41 45.Payne, S. K. & Richmond, V. P. (1984). A bibliography of related research and theories. In J. C. McCroskey and J. A. Daly (Eds.). Avoid communication: shyness, reticence and communication apprehension. (pp. 247-294). London: Sage Publications Inc. Phillips, G. M. (1984). A perspective on social withdrawal. In J. C. McCroskey and J. A. Daly (Eds.). Avoid communication: shyness, reticence and communication apprehension. (pp. 51-66). London: Sage Publications Inc. Richmond, V. P. (1984). Implications of stillness: some facts and speculations. In J. C. McCroskey and J. A. Daly (Eds.). Avoid communication: shyness, reticence and communication apprehension. (pages 145-155). London: Sage Publications Inc. Scott, C. R. & Rockwell, S. C. (1997). The effect of communication, writing, and technological learning on the likelihood of using new communication technologies. Communication education, 46, 44-62.