Another nice study (in French) on the effect of "generic masculine forms" on mental representations. The measured effects are quite dramatic: for instance, this figure shows the percentage of women cited as a potential Prime Minister when the question is asked using a generic masculine form ("candidat") or a double form ("candidat/candidate"). https://www.persee.fr/doc/psy_0003-5033_2008_num_108_2_30971 @psycholinguistics #GenderNeutral #GenderFair
I failed to mention that N=101. As a matter of fact they use a very good sampling strategy: "One hundred and one randomly selected passers-by in the lobby of the Clermont-Ferrand train station and in the lobby of a large administrative center constituted our sample"
@leovarnet @psycholinguistics error bars would enhance the graph.
@dstephenlindsay Indeed! In the case of a binomial law such as this one the error bars can be directly derived from the estimated probability of success, but I agree it would be helpful to represent them anyway as a visual aid.
@psycholinguistics Ironically enough, while the results are strongly in favor of the use of gender-fair forms, the authors chose to write the article using only generic masculine forms...