Sabine Sczesny

Alice H. Eagly

The study of gender is deservedly a major focus of research in the discipline of psychology in general and social psychology in particular. Interest in the topic increased sharply in the 1970s with the flowering of the feminist movement, and research has continued to advance since that time. In 1987, Alice Eagly formulated Social Role Theory to explain the behavior of women and men as well as the stereotypes, attitudes, and ideologies that are relevant to sex and gender. Enhanced by several extensions over the intervening years, this theory became one of the pre-eminent, if not the central, theory of gender in social psychology. Also, over the last decades, social psychologists have developed a variety of related approaches to understanding gender, including, for instance, theories devoted to stereotyping, leadership, status, backlash, lack of fit to occupational roles, social identity, and categorization. Reflecting these elements, this e-Book includes articles that encompasses a wide range of themes pertaining to sex and gender. In these papers, the concept of social roles appears often as central integrative concept that links individuals with their social environment. These articles thereby complement social role theory as the authors reach out to build an extended theoretical foundation for gender research of the future.

Gender Roles in the Future? Theoretical Foundations and Future Research Directions

Alan Garnham

Jane Oakhill

Lisa von Stockhausen

Gender inequality remains an issue of high relevance, and controversy, in society. Previous research shows that language contributes to gender inequality in various ways: Gender-related information is transmitted through formal and semantic features of language, such as the grammatical category of gender, through gender-related connotations of role names (e.g., manager, secretary), and through customs of denoting social groups with derogatory vs. neutral names. Both as a formal system and as a means of communication, language passively reflects culture-specific social conditions. In active use it can also be used to express and, potentially, perpetuate those conditions. The questions addressed in the contributions to this Frontiers Special Topic include: • how languages shape the cognitive representations of gender • how features of languages correspond with gender equality in different societies • how language contributes to social behaviour towards the sexes • how gender equality can be promoted through strategies for gender-fair language use These questions are explored both developmentally (across the life span from childhood to old age) and in adults. The contributions present work conducted across a wide range of languages, including some studies that make cross-linguistic comparisons. Among the contributors are both cognitive and social psychologists and linguists, all with an excellent research standing. The studies employ a wide range of empirical methods: from surveys to electro-physiology. The papers in the Special Topic present a wide range of complimentary studies, which will make a substantial contribution to understanding in this important area.

Sabine Sczesny

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