Side effects of gender‐fair language: How feminine job titles influence the evaluation of female applicants

Abstract

In many languages, feminization has been used as a strategy to make language more gender‐fair, because masculine terms, even in a generic function, exhibit a male bias. Up to date, little is known about possible side effects of this language use, for example, in personnel selection. In three studies, conducted in Polish, we analyzed how a female applicant was evaluated in a recruitment process, depending on whether she was introduced with a feminine or masculine job title. To avoid influences from existing occupations and terms, we used fictitious job titles in Studies 1 and 2: diarolożka (feminine) and diarolog (masculine). In Study 3, we referred to existing occupations that varied in gender stereotypicality. In all studies, female applicants with a feminine job title were evaluated less favorably than both a male applicant (Study 1) and a female applicant with a masculine job title (Studies 1, 2, and 3). This effect was independent of the gender stereotypicality of the occupation (Study 3). Participants' political attitudes, however, moderated the effect: Conservatives devaluated female applicants with a feminine title more than liberals (Studies 2 and 3). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents’ perceptions of occupations

“…Indirect support for the assumption that gender-fair language might affect perceptions of warmth and competence comes from research comparing the impact of the masculine singular vs. the feminine singular form for job titles on evaluations of those jobs and their suitability for female applicants (Merkel et al, 2012; Formanowicz et al, 2013; Budziszewska et al, 2014). For example Formanowicz et al (2013) demonstrated with both invented (Studies 1–2) and existing (Study 3) job titles that female applicants described with a feminine job title were evaluated as being less competent than applicants described with a masculine job title.…”

“…For example Formanowicz et al (2013) demonstrated with both invented (Studies 1–2) and existing (Study 3) job titles that female applicants described with a feminine job title were evaluated as being less competent than applicants described with a masculine job title. While job titles in the feminine form lead to some devaluation of competence, women are often evaluated more favorably than men on warmth (cf.…”

Capturing socially motivated linguistic change: how the use of gender-fair language affects support for social initiatives in Austria and Poland

“…In languages where gender-fair language was or is still a matter of debate (English in the 1990s: McConnell and Fazio, 1996; Polish and Italian in the first two decades of the twenty-first century: Mucchi-Faina, 2005; Merkel et al, 2012; Formanowicz et al, 2013), the use of feminine job titles for individual women was found to reduce women's professional credibility and evaluation, suggesting that gender-fair language and other regulations for political correctness may be counter productive. However, this conclusion may be premature as we still do not know the popular reaction to politically correct language after it has been implemented for a longer time.…”

“… 8 In Study 2 we have used a scale that was previously used in Poland (Formanowicz et al, 2013). However, for the German language we referred to the related scale for which the translation was available for us.…”

Testing the Effectiveness of Fundraiser Job Titles in Charitable Bequest and Complex Gift Planning

“…), on prospective employers (Formanowicz et al. ), and on the public perceptions in general (Wood‐Nartker et al. ).…”