Language, Cognition and GenderAlan Garnham, Jane Oakhill, Lisa von Stockhausen, Sabine Sczesny Gender inequality remains an issue of high relevance, and controversy, in society. Previous research shows that language contributes to gender inequality in various ways: Gender-related information is transmitted through formal and semantic features of language, such as the grammatical category of gender, through gender-related connotations of role names (e.g., manager, secretary), and through customs of denoting social groups with derogatory vs. neutral names. Both as a formal system and as a means of communication, language passively reflects culture-specific social conditions. In active use it can also be used to express and, potentially, perpetuate those conditions. The questions addressed in the contributions to this Frontiers Special Topic include: • how languages shape the cognitive representations of gender • how features of languages correspond with gender equality in different societies • how language contributes to social behaviour towards the sexes • how gender equality can be promoted through strategies for gender-fair language use These questions are explored both developmentally (across the life span from childhood to old age) and in adults. The contributions present work conducted across a wide range of languages, including some studies that make cross-linguistic comparisons. Among the contributors are both cognitive and social psychologists and linguists, all with an excellent research standing. The studies employ a wide range of empirical methods: from surveys to electro-physiology. The papers in the Special Topic present a wide range of complimentary studies, which will make a substantial contribution to understanding in this important area. |
Contents
Language Cognition and Gender | 6 |
True gender ratios and stereotype rating norms | 9 |
Self SexRole Descriptions Affect the Brains Potentials Associated with Agreement Processing | 16 |
An ERP Study of Reflexive Pronoun Resolution in Written Mandarin Chinese | 33 |
Role descriptions induce gender mismatch effects in eye movements during reading | 48 |
Online processing in schoolage children young and older adults | 61 |
Electrophysiology of subjectverb agreement mediated by speakers gender | 74 |
The Interaction of Morphological and Stereotypical Gender Information in Russian | 86 |
Can GenderFair Language Reduce Gender Stereotyping and Discrimination? | 121 |
Does GenderFair Language Pay Off? The Social Perception of Professions from a CrossLinguistic Perspective | 132 |
Warmhearted businessmen competitive housewives? Effects of genderfair language on adolescents perceptions of occupations | 144 |
Effects of GenderInclusive Language in Media Reports | 154 |
the influence of time on attitudes and behavior | 161 |
how the use of genderfair language affects support for social initiatives in Austria and Poland | 173 |
The Responders Gender Stereotypes Modulate the Strategic DecisionMaking of Proposers Playing the Ultimatum Game | 182 |
Reading is for girls? The negative impact of preschool teachers traditional gender role attitudes on boys reading related motivation and skills | 191 |
Counterstereotypical pictures as a strategy for overcoming spontaneous gender stereotypes | 98 |
Crosslinguistic evidence for gender as a prominence feature | 113 |
Back Cover | 202 |