Communication Apprehension in Online Classes:Investigating the Role of Students’ Cultural Values and Personality Traits

The effectiveness of online education in the recent pandemic, has led to a shift toward a hybrid education (a combination of in-person and online education). This study focuses on the challenges of communication in online classes and is aimed to investigate the impact of personality traits (Big five) and cultural values (Horizontal and Vertical Individualism/Collectivism) on the communication apprehension (CA) level (communication participation avoidance and low level of communication confidence). The participant of this research were the MBA students of Iranian business schools via an online survey. The results indicate that extroverted and agreeable students and those who show a high level of openness to experience, exhibit a lower level of CA in online classes. However, neuroticism predicts a higher level of CA positively and significantly. The results also demonstrate that students with high levels of horizontal collectivism are more prone to show higher levels of CA. In contrast, a high level of individualism (whether vertical or horizontal) predicts CA negatively.