Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Promoting gender equality has never been more relevant and important in today’s society. Language can be seen as a mirror of social structures (Matheson & Kristiansen, 1987). In the English language there is gendered language that is exclusively for males (e.g. he, him), exclusive for females (e.g. she, her), and gendered-neutral language (e.g. you, them). The gender-exclusive language uses on gendered-pronoun (he or she), yet refers to an opposite gender or gender-neutral description (e.g., fireman vs. firefighter). This study will evaluate how men’s and women’s (participants) perceptions of gender-exclusive versus gender-inclusive language by means of job advertisements affect their decision to apply for a job. Researchers suggest that ostracism, rejection, and discrimination are negative effects of individuals who experience gender exclusive language. Stout and Dasgupta (2011) argue that even when individuals aren’t directly ostracized, but who’s ingroup may be the receptor of these actions, their sense of belonging, motivation, and behavior is threatened. Social exclusion is a painful experience; so much that it activates the same areas in the brain associated with physical pain (Eisenberger, Lieberman, Williams, 2003). It also causes psychological unsympathetic reactions like depression, loneliness, anxiety, frustration, invisibility, and helplessness (Williams, Cheung, & Choi, 2000). The English that is spoken today commonly use male-exclusive language in many cases were gender-inclusive or female-inclusive language would be more appropriate and correct. This common practice is often seen in the work professional workplace. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the use of gendered-language on participants such as using he to indicate males and she to indicate females. The sample will consist of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. We will measure the extent to which participants perceive job advertisement language as sexist, and their subsequent feelings of ostracism, motivation, and identification with regard to the job.
Date
October 2018
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Does Gendered Language Have an Effect on You?
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Included in
Does Gendered Language Have an Effect on You?
Promoting gender equality has never been more relevant and important in today’s society. Language can be seen as a mirror of social structures (Matheson & Kristiansen, 1987). In the English language there is gendered language that is exclusively for males (e.g. he, him), exclusive for females (e.g. she, her), and gendered-neutral language (e.g. you, them). The gender-exclusive language uses on gendered-pronoun (he or she), yet refers to an opposite gender or gender-neutral description (e.g., fireman vs. firefighter). This study will evaluate how men’s and women’s (participants) perceptions of gender-exclusive versus gender-inclusive language by means of job advertisements affect their decision to apply for a job. Researchers suggest that ostracism, rejection, and discrimination are negative effects of individuals who experience gender exclusive language. Stout and Dasgupta (2011) argue that even when individuals aren’t directly ostracized, but who’s ingroup may be the receptor of these actions, their sense of belonging, motivation, and behavior is threatened. Social exclusion is a painful experience; so much that it activates the same areas in the brain associated with physical pain (Eisenberger, Lieberman, Williams, 2003). It also causes psychological unsympathetic reactions like depression, loneliness, anxiety, frustration, invisibility, and helplessness (Williams, Cheung, & Choi, 2000). The English that is spoken today commonly use male-exclusive language in many cases were gender-inclusive or female-inclusive language would be more appropriate and correct. This common practice is often seen in the work professional workplace. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the use of gendered-language on participants such as using he to indicate males and she to indicate females. The sample will consist of undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. We will measure the extent to which participants perceive job advertisement language as sexist, and their subsequent feelings of ostracism, motivation, and identification with regard to the job.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology