>*"I know this makes absolutely zero sense but I stutter less when nervous. Shouldnt this be the exact opposite though?"* There is a mega-collection that compiled all the [polls](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/18y9qbx/megacollection_i_summed_up_all_the_polls_in_this/) in this stutter-subreddit. In one poll, 285 people voted, in which around **52% stutter more with strangers** (than with family/friends) and around **48% stutter more with family/friends** (than with strangers). I think this is because individuals with developmental stuttering start learning to stutter as a response to repeated experiences of communication failure thru [conditioning](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/196mdrr/the_role_of_classicaloperant_conditioning_in/). If this is true, then it implies that such conditioning doesn't necessarily (or primarily) have to be associated with negative feelings in social context (such as "*nervousness*" as you pointed out), rather such conditioning might be more associated with the way we look at our own stuttering (the "rules" we have established to move the speech muscles, the demands we rely upon resulting in perceived conflict/errors, and adopting a blaming attitude where we blame triggers for causing a flight fight freeze response). This is just my own take on it