Sexism and Attitudes Toward Gender-Neutral Language

Abstract

We examined the relationships between three forms of sexism (modern, benevolent, and hostile) and two components of attitudes toward gender-neutral language (attitudes toward gender-related language reforms and recognition of sexist language) across different contexts. A questionnaire study (N = 446) was conducted among students in the United Kingdom and in two (French- and German-speaking) regions of Switzerland. While we expected to find that all forms of sexism are generally related to negative attitudes toward gender-neutral language, we expected attitudes to be more positive and less related to sexist beliefs in a context in which gender-neutral language is firmly established (the UK) compared to contexts in which the use of gender-neutral language was introduced only recently (the German-speaking part of Switzerland) or is still seldom (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). We found that, across all contexts, modern and hostile sexist beliefs were indeed related to negative attitudes toward gender-related language reforms, while, intriguingly, benevolent sexist beliefs were related to positive attitudes in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Recognition of sexist language was significantly related to modern sexism only. Finally, British students were found to express more positive attitudes toward gender-neutral language (both components) than Swiss students.