Om kønnet sprogs indvirken på stereotype kønsopfattelser
Keywords:
gender, pronouns, psycholinguistics, self-paced reading, primingAbstract
This paper examines the relation between gendered language and the processing of non-stereotypical gender representation through a psycholinguistic priming experiment consisting of a self-paced reading test. The experiment tests two things: The processing ease of 3rd person singular pronouns that either match or mismatch the stereotypical gender of their referents; and whether sentences with gendered language affect this. Processing ease is measured by reading time. Sentences with gendered language are used as priming; and pronouns with matching or mismatching stereotypicality as targets. The results showed no difference in the reading time of matching and mismatching pronouns, and no priming effect was found. This could point to the fact that gender stereotypical mismatch does not affect the informants; and that gendered language is so well-integrated in our language that it cannot prime for gender stereotypes. Moreover, the pronoun han was read significantly faster than the pronoun hun, which could indicate that the masculine is expected as a linguistic norm. This is considered in relation to the reflections on the missing priming effect as a result of gendered language being the norm.
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