A qualitative investigation of how stutterers perceive social interactions

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the social perceptions that stutterers hold about their communication partners with the goal of understanding why some situations are more challenging for stutterers than others.

Method

Fifteen adults who stutter were interviewed for one hour each to explore their perceptions and evaluations of their listeners. The interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

Participants expressed uncertainty about how their listeners would respond to their stuttering. Many reported feeling more discomfort when stuttering around unfamiliar communication partners due to concerns about making a negative first impression. All participants felt judged due to their stuttering, and many experienced pressure to be fluent. Meta-perceptions of communication partners played a crucial role in determining how difficult the social interaction was perceived to be.

Conclusions

This study highlights the challenges adults who stutter may face in social situations, revealing the nuanced complexities of stuttering within social interactions. It highlights the significant impact of listener behavior and stutterers’ meta-perceptions on stuttering events. These findings provide a rich analysis of how stutterers interpret social interactions and can form the basis of quantitative investigations into how social perceptions are related to stuttering events.