The effect of rejection avoidance need on cognitive failure during speech

Abstract

We investigated how rejection avoidance need (RAN) affects public speakers before, during, and after a speech. This study was comprised of two sessions. First, 303 participants completed a questionnaire measuring their RAN, and were assigned into two groups: high and low RAN. Second, in a lab experiment, they delivered a two-minute speech, before/during/after which they responded to the high arousal scale, measuring their psychological tension. Their physical arousal was assessed measuring heart rate (HR) level before/during/after the speech. The results indicated that speakers in the high RAN group had higher psychological tension and HR when feel failure during speech. These results point to the likelihood that RAN negatively affects failure recognition.