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Public Speaking Aversion

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Buser

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • Huaiping Yuan

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

Fear of public speaking is very common but we know little about its economic implications. We establish public speaking aversion as an economically relevant preference using three steps. First, we use a lab and a classroom experiment to show that preferences for speaking in public vary strongly across individuals with many participants willing to give up significant amounts of money to avoid giving a short presentation in front of an audience. Second, we introduce two self-reported items to elicit preferences for speaking in public through surveys. We show that these items are strongly related to choices in the incentivized lab experiment and that public speaking aversion is distinct from established traits and preferences including extraversion. Finally, we elicit these items in a student survey and show that public speaking aversion predicts students' career expectations, indicating that it is an influential factor in determining career choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Buser & Huaiping Yuan, 2020. "Public Speaking Aversion," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-074/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20200074
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Brandts, Jordi & El Baroudi, Sabrine & Huber, Stefanie J. & Rott, Christina, 2021. "Gender differences in private and public goal setting," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 222-247.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public speaking; validated survey measures; human capital; career choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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