Grammatical Gender in German Influences How Role-Nouns Are Interpreted: Evidence from ERPs

Autor/inn/en	Misersky, Julia; Majid, Asifa; Snijders, Tineke M.
Titel	Grammatical Gender in German Influences How Role-Nouns Are Interpreted: Evidence from ERPs
Quelle	In: Discourse Processes: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 56 (2019) 8, S.643-654 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0163-853X
DOI	10.1080/0163853X.2018.1541382
Schlagwörter	Grammar; Nouns; Distinctive Features (Language); Gender Differences; Equal Opportunities (Jobs); Brain Hemisphere Functions; Diagnostic Tests; German; Language Processing; Role; Femininity; Masculinity; Foreign Countries; Reading Processes; Accuracy; Language Research; Germany + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Grammatik; Geschlechterkonflikt; Equal opportunity; Equal opportunities; Job; Jobs; Chancengleichheit; Beruf; Diagnostic test; Diagnostischer Test; Deutscher; Sprachverarbeitung; Rollen; Femaleness; Weiblichkeit; Männlichkeit; Ausland; Leseprozess; Sprachforschung; Deutschland
Abstract	Grammatically masculine role-nouns (e.g., "Studenten"masc.'students') can refer to men and women but may favor an interpretation where only men are considered the referent. If true, this has implications for a society aiming to achieve equal representation in the workplace since, for example, job adverts use such role descriptions. To investigate the interpretation of role-nouns, the present ERP study assessed grammatical gender processing in German. Twenty participants read sentences where a role-noun (masculine or feminine) introduced a group of people, followed by a congruent (masculine-"men", feminine-"women") or incongruent (masculine-"women", feminine-"men") continuation. Both for feminine-"men" and masculine-"women" continuations a P600 (500 to 800 ms) was observed; another positivity was already present from 300 to 500 ms for feminine-men continuations but critically not for masculine-women continuations. The results imply a male-biased rather than gender-neutral interpretation of the masculine--despite widespread usage of the masculine as a gender-neutral form--suggesting that masculine forms are inadequate for representing genders equally. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01