Does Background Diversity Affect Mandarin Chinese-Speaking Adolescents’ Communication Attitudes, Communication Anxiety, and Irrational Beliefs Toward Communication?

This study explores the communication attitudes, anxiety, and irrational beliefs of Mandarin Chinese-speaking adolescents in Taiwan. It is part of a broader investigation into the relationships among stuttering severity, speaking experience, and temperament in adolescents who stutter. This study examines these communication-related factors among non-stuttering adolescents from diverse backgrounds to establish a basis for comparison.

Adolescence is a critical developmental stage marked by rapid physical changes, the emergence of abstract thinking skills, and self-identity formation, particularly in the context of peer relationships. During this period, adolescents must navigate increasing academic and social pressures, making communication competence essential for daily life.

A total of 399 adolescents (243 males and 154 females) from different backgrounds participated in the study, completing inventories assessing their communication attitudes, communication anxiety, and irrational beliefs toward communication. Independent t-tests and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to examine whether background factors influenced these variables. The results indicated that background diversity, including age, gender, living area, and school characteristics—had no significant impact on Taiwanese adolescents’ communication attitudes, anxiety levels, or irrational beliefs toward communication.

This lack of significant differences may be attributed to Taiwan`s widespread educational access and advanced internet infrastructure, which provide adolescents with diverse modes of communication beyond verbal interaction. Consequently, verbal communication among Mandarin Chinese-speaking adolescents appears to be unaffected by background diversity.

References

Yang, S. L. (unpublished). The Inventory of Communication Attitudes for Mandarin Chinese-speaking Youth.

Yang, S. L. (unpublished). The Inventory of Communication Anxiety for Mandarin Chinese-speaking Youth.

Yang, S. L. (unpublished). The Inventory of Irrational Beliefs toward Communication for Mandarin Chinese-speaking Youth.