Evaluating Effects of Gender, Education and Age on the Identity of People Who Stutter

Abstract

Adult onset stuttering is a condition that refers to a stutter where an adult who has previously shown age-appropriate communication skills suddenly starts facing dysfluency in his speech. Previous studies assert that those who stutter are more likely to experience the negative psychological and emotional impacts of stuttering on their identity. Interaction between a person who stutters (PWS) and others around him comes together to develop PSW’s identity. This study examined how PWS’s gender, education and age affect the CSI constructions using the Concealable Stigmatized Identity (CSI) constructs. Salience, centrality, and disclosure were the factors against which the relation of gender, age and education was examined. The study concluded that the relationship that gender and age have with three constructs of CSI remained insignificant. However, education has a significant relationship with the constructs.