The effect of reticence on college students' use of electronic mail to communicate with faculty

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether reticent and non-reticent college students differed in their use of e-mail, motives for employing e-mail, and preferred channel of communication with faculty. Results indicated that, although reticent and non-reticent students did not differ in their frequency of using e-mail to communicate with faculty, reticent students reported greater comfort and ease in using e-mail as opposed to oral communication channels than non-reticents. In addition, compared to non-reticents, reticent students expressed a greater preference for using e-mail over speaking to faculty at their offices.