ABSTRACT
Burgoon created a scale to measure unwillingness-to-communicate, a predisposition or “chronic tendency to avoid and/or devalue oral communication”. Refinement of early versions of the scale resulted in a 26-item instrument that contained two main dimensions: Approach-Avoidance and Reward. The Unwillingness-to-Communicate Scale (UCS) today consists of 20 items, 10 for each dimension. Respondents indicate amount of agreement with each statement using 7-point Likert-type scales. Approach-Avoidance (likelihood of participating in communication) and Reward (finding communication rewarding) dimensions are created. It takes respondents less than 5 minutes to complete the measure. The UCS also accounted for more variance in small group communication behavior than did anomia or communication apprehension. The UCS-AA also significantly predicted reduced language intensity.
