From “acteurs/actrices” to “zangers/zangeressen”: the interpretation of word pairs and generically intended masculine role nouns in speakers of Dutch

Roos, F.; De Mulder, H.N.M.

doi:doi:10.1177/0261927X251386476

Though intended to refer to everyone, generically intended masculine role nouns are
often interpreted as referring (primarily) to men. While the use of more inclusive
forms counters this bias, previous studies have largely focused on languages with a
salient masculine/feminine grammatical gender distinction and used measures that
focus participants’ attention on gender. The present study uses an indirect measure
and investigates Dutch, a grammatical gender language that has largely lost the distinction
between masculine and feminine gender, but still uses gender-specific marking for
role nouns. A total of 130 participants named the first three people they could think
of when presented with either a word pair (e.g., zangers/zangeressen–“singers_masculine/
singers_feminine”) or a generically intended masculine (zangers). Compared to the generically
intended masculine form, word pairs increased the mental availability of nonmen,
Show moreThough intended to refer to everyone, generically intended masculine role nouns are
often interpreted as referring (primarily) to men. While the use of more inclusive
forms counters this bias, previous studies have largely focused on languages with a
salient masculine/feminine grammatical gender distinction and used measures that
focus participants’ attention on gender. The present study uses an indirect measure
and investigates Dutch, a grammatical gender language that has largely lost the distinction
between masculine and feminine gender, but still uses gender-specific marking for
role nouns. A total of 130 participants named the first three people they could think
of when presented with either a word pair (e.g., zangers/zangeressen–“singers_masculine/
singers_feminine”) or a generically intended masculine (zangers). Compared to the generically
intended masculine form, word pairs increased the mental availability of nonmen,
suggesting that a more inclusive form facilitates activation of nonmasculine exemplars
for speakers of Dutch as well.
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From “acteurs/actrices” to “zangers/zangeressen”: the interpretation of word pairs and generically intended masculine role nouns in speakers of Dutch