Los usos del lenguaje en las relaciones de género

Resum

This study is based on three basic assumptions: a) linguistic usage is a reflection of the inequalities between groups, b) the linguistic forms used have psychological effects and c) prejudice toward social categories is appreciated better through a person's biased use of language. Using a two-factor inter-group design (sex: men vs. women) x 2 (use of grammatical gender: masculine generic vs. gender-fair form) x 2 (intergroup power: weak vs. strong assigned to women), this study attempts to analyse: 1) If the usages of grammatical or linguistic gender have some effect on inter-group differentiation strategies, and 2) the effect of asymmetric distribution of power between men and women on sexist expressions and on the linguistic measure of inter-group bias. Results show that sex and intergroup power have effects on the level of language abstraction they use to describe in-group and out-group behaviour. Also, the language measure used seems to be more sensitive than other measures in grasping inter-group bias.