대중매체 경험에 따른 대학생의 말더듬에 대한 인식

University Students’ Perceptions toward Stuttering according to Mass-Media Experiences

Purpose: Various groups of people may show negative perceptions toward stuttering. One of the reasons for such negative perception is that stuttering is portrayed negatively in mass-media. The primary purposes of the current study were to explore university students’ mass-media experiences of stuttering and to determine whether there would be differences in stuttering perception according to such experiences. In addition, the current study tried to determine differences in stuttering perception according to personal factors such as gender and friends and relatives who stutter. Methods: A total of 82 university students (37 male and 45 female; mean age: 21.4 years old) took part in the current study. They completed questionnaires on their mass-media experiences with stuttering. Also, they completed bipolar adjective scales and Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering, and it was determined whether there would be differences in the responses according to mass-media stuttering experiences, gender, and friends/relatives who stutter. Results: A total of 32 participants (39.0%) had stuttering mass-media experiences. Even though they showed negative responses toward stuttering portrayed by mass-media, there was no statistically significant difference in the responses according to stuttering mass-media experiences. There was a very limited difference in the responses according to gender and friends/relatives who stutter. Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest that mass-media play a limited role for formation of negative responses toward stuttering. There needs to be further efforts to provide information on stuttering to enhance responses toward stuttering.