150 Top Items for UNI's 150th Anniversary
Language as a social reality: The effects of the infantilization of women
Chelsae R. Huot
University of Northern Iowa
01-01-2013
The current study examined how people’s perceptions can be affected by various terms used to describe women. Participants from a Midwestern university read a script describing 26-year-old Erin either ..
more »The current study examined how people’s perceptions can be affected by various terms used to describe women. Participants from a Midwestern university read a script describing 26-year-old Erin either as a “woman,” a “girl,” or “person.” Participants then rated Erin on eighteen different traits (e.g., mature, forceful). They also completed an ambivalent sexism scale and answered three questions about their use and interpretations of the terms “girl” and “woman.” It was predicted that the participants in the “woman” condition would rate Erin as more mature, responsible, warm, understanding, and successful than the participants in the “girl” condition. Also, it was predicted that those in the “girl” condition would rate Erin as more feminine, gullible, and childlike. A research question asked how differing levels of ambivalent sexism might affect the ratings of Erin. Only 34% of participants were able to correctly recall how Erin was described in the scenario (i.e., girl, woman, person). There were few effects of gender or interactions, with no main effects of condition. Overall, higher levels of ambivalent sexism did significantly correlate with a few trait ratings of Erin. The qualitative results showed that over half of the participants reported using “girl” and less than a third reported using “woman” as their main term for adult females. Additionally, “girl” is often interpreted as more childlike, whereas “woman” is often interpreted as more adult-like. Although the manipulation did not seem to be effective, there was some evidence that there is some sort of effect of whether a woman is referred to as a “woman,” “girl,” or “person.”
Oa_thesis
2013-01-01T08:00:00Z
Helen C. Harton
Helen C. Harton
©2013 Chelsae R. Huot
University of Northern Iowa
Master of Arts
Department of Psychology
application/pdf
Document
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1 PDF file (iv, 61 pages)
UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Psychology
Social and Behavioral Sciences
University of Northern Iowa