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Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Gaucher, D; Friesen, J; Kay, AC
Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology
July 2011

Social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) contends that institutional-level mechanisms exist that reinforce and perpetuate existing group-based inequalities, but very few such mechanisms have been empirically demonstrated. We propose that gendered wording (i.e., masculine- and feminine-themed words, such as those associated with gender stereotypes) may be a heretofore unacknowledged, institutional-level mechanism of inequality maintenance. Employing both archival and experimental analyses, the present research demonstrates that gendered wording commonly employed in job recruitment materials can maintain gender inequality in traditionally male-dominated occupations. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated the existence of subtle but systematic wording differences within a randomly sampled set of job advertisements. Results indicated that job advertisements for male-dominated areas employed greater masculine wording (i.e., words associated with male stereotypes, such as leader, competitive, dominant) than advertisements within female-dominated areas. No difference in the presence of feminine wording (i.e., words associated with female stereotypes, such as support, understand, interpersonal) emerged across male- and female-dominated areas. Next, the consequences of highly masculine wording were tested across 3 experimental studies. When job advertisements were constructed to include more masculine than feminine wording, participants perceived more men within these occupations (Study 3), and importantly, women found these jobs less appealing (Studies 4 and 5). Results confirmed that perceptions of belongingness (but not perceived skills) mediated the effect of gendered wording on job appeal (Study 5). The function of gendered wording in maintaining traditional gender divisions, implications for gender parity, and theoretical models of inequality are discussed.

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Published In

Journal of personality and social psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-1315

ISSN

0022-3514

Publication Date

July 2011

Volume

101

Issue

1

Start / End Page

109 / 128

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Students
  • Stereotyping
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Identification
  • Social Dominance
  • Semantics
  • Prejudice
  • Personnel Selection
  • Newspapers as Topic
 

Citation

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Gaucher, D., Friesen, J., & Kay, A. C. (2011). Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(1), 109–128. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022530
Gaucher, Danielle, Justin Friesen, and Aaron C. Kay. “Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 101, no. 1 (July 2011): 109–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022530.
Gaucher D, Friesen J, Kay AC. Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2011 Jul;101(1):109–28.
Gaucher, Danielle, et al. “Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 101, no. 1, July 2011, pp. 109–28. Epmc, doi:10.1037/a0022530.
Gaucher D, Friesen J, Kay AC. Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2011 Jul;101(1):109–128.

Published In

Journal of personality and social psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-1315

ISSN

0022-3514

Publication Date

July 2011

Volume

101

Issue

1

Start / End Page

109 / 128

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Students
  • Stereotyping
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Identification
  • Social Dominance
  • Semantics
  • Prejudice
  • Personnel Selection
  • Newspapers as Topic