A negative halo effect for stuttering? The consequences of stuttering for romantic desirability are mediated by perceptions of personality traits, self-esteem, and intelligence

Abstract

ABSTRACT Stuttering is a disorder in oral communication that is often accompanied by negative stereotypes and social stigma. The primary goal of the present study was to examine whether opposite-sex perceivers rated the romantic desirability of targets who stuttered differently than targets who did not stutter. We were also interested in examining whether perceptions of the target (i.e., extraversion, emotional stability, self-esteem, and intelligence) would mediate the associations between stuttering and romantic desirability in a zero-acquaintance situation. Results showed that targets who stuttered were perceived to be less romantically desirable than targets who did not stutter. Further, the negative association between stuttering and romantic desirability was mediated by the perceived extraversion, self-esteem, and intelligence of the targets. Discussion will focus on the implications of these results for the understanding of the negative halo effect for stuttering.