Actual and Potential Gender-Fair Language Use: The Role of Language Competence and the Motivation to Use Accurate Language. (March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kuhn, Elisabeth A.; Gabriel, Ute
• Is Part Of: Journal of language and social psychology. Volume 33:Number 2(2014:Jun.)
• Page Start: 214
• Page End: 225
• Publication Date: 2014-03
• Subjects: gender-fair language use -- motivation -- language competence -- German -- gender; Sociolinguistics -- Periodicals; Psycholinguistics -- Periodicals; 401.905
• DOI: 10.1177/0261927X13504297
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-927X

Abstract

In two paper-and-pencil studies on university students and trainees, we studied how general language competence and the motivation to use accurate language are linked to people's actual and potential gender-fair language use. Overall, participants' actual gender-fair language use was lower than their potential. The higher the participants' language competence, the higher their potential. Trainees' actual gender-fair language use was predicted by the interaction of language competence and motivation to use accurate language, those with relatively high language competence used less gender-fair language the higher their motivation to use accurate language was.