Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia, phone phobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls, literally, "fear of telephones".[1] It is considered to be a type of social phobia or social anxiety.[1] It may be compared to glossophobia, in that both arise from having to engage with an audience, and the associated fear of being criticized, judged or made a fool of.[2]
As is common with other fears and phobias, there is a wide spectrum of severity of the fear of phone conversations and corresponding difficulties.[1] In 1993, it was reported that about 2.5 million people in Great Britain had telephone phobia.[3] A 2019 survey of UK office workers found that 40% of baby boomers and 70% of millennials experience anxious thoughts when the phone rings.[4]
The term "telephone apprehension" refers to a lower degree of telephone phobia, in which sufferers experience anxiety about the use of telephones, but to a less severe degree than that of an actual phobia.[5]
Sufferers may have no problem communicating face to face, but have difficulty doing so over the telephone.
- ^ a b c Marshall, John R. (1995). "Telephone Phobia". Social Phobia: From Shyness to Stage Fright. New York: BasicBooks. p. 30. ISBN 0-465-07896-6.
telephone phobia.
- ^ Doctor, Ronald M. (2000). The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties. New York: Facts On File. p. 493. ISBN 0-8160-3989-5.
- ^ Keeble, Richard (2001). The Newspapers Handbook (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 64. ISBN 0-415-24083-2.
- ^ "Phone anxiety affects over half of UK office workers". Face for Business. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
- ^ Fielding, Richard G. (November 1990). Telephone apprehension: a study of individual differences in attitudes to, and usage of the telephone (doctoral). Sheffield City Polytechnic. Retrieved 3 April 2013.