Personality Influences in Stuttering. The Influence of exraversion on type of dysfluency and communication attitude

Abstract

Personality is assumed to be an important factor in stuttering (Guitar, 2006). The present study sets out to measure the correlation between the personality trait extraversion and two important aspects in respect to stuttering: type of dysfluency and communication attitude. This is studied in 30 people who stutter (PWS) by classifying their stutters as clonic or tonic and by measuring their degree of extraversion. To score the communication attitude of the PWS, the Erickson’s Communication Attitude Scale (S-24) (Brutten and Vanryckeghem, 2003) was used. The S-24 measures the influence of stuttering on the communication attitude. Video recordings were used to score the predominant type of dysfluency. The degree of extraversion was measured by the NEO-PI-R personality questionnaire (Hoekstra, 1996), which is based on the five-factor model of personality (Fiske, 1949). No correlation was found between extraversion and the type of dysfluency. However, the communication attitude significantly correlated with extraversion. In this paper it is shown that the S-24, while measuring communication attitude, at the same time measures the degree of the personality trait extraversion on the communication attitude. This result might be of relevance in stuttering therapy development.