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Cited by 32Gender Studies in LanguageGender and Feminist StudiesLinguistic Variation and Morphology

The Meaning of MS: Social Assimilation of a Gender Concept

Crawford, Mary, Stark, Amy C., Renner, Catherine Hackett·1998·Psychology of Women Quarterly
DOI 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1998.tb00150.x
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Abstract

When Ms. was first introduced as an alternative to Miss or Mrs. it was perceived as a radical feminist innovation. Today, its use is unremarkable, even normative. This study examines two aspects of the meaning of Ms.: changes in its connotative meaning over time, and its current comparability to other titles. Female ( n = 83) and male ( n = 54) college students rated courtesy titles (Ms., Miss, Mrs., Mr.) on a set of bipolar adjective pairs composing a semantic differential scale in an exact replication of a 1978 study. Of the four titles, the largest change in meaning over time was for Ms., and the direction of the change was positive. These results document the social assimilation of a new gender-related concept.

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  • Gendered word choices have been shown to influence comprehension, memory, and attitudes toward women.

    “Gendered word choices have been shown to influence comprehension, memory (Crawford & English, 1984; Harrison, 1975), and attitudes toward women (Crawford, Stark & Renner, 1998; Dion, 1987; Dion & Cota, 1991).”

    From Definitions of Gender and Sex: The Subtleties of Meaning (2000) · cites this paper as Crawford, Stark & Renner, 1998

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Authors
Crawford, M., Stark, A. C., & Renner, C. H.
Affiliations
West Chester University (US)
ORCID
Crawford, Mary
Venue
Psychology of Women Quarterly
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
1998-06
Volume
22
Issue
2
Pages
197-208
ISSN
  • 0361-6843 (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-6402
DOI
10.1111/j.1471-6402.1998.tb00150.x
OpenAlex
W2122615628
Cited by
32
References
16
Citations by year
2021: 17 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
FWCI
2.15
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Psychology of Women Quarterly (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Studies in Language
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
  • Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Linguistic Variation and Morphology
Keywords
connotation, Miss, MRS, MR, semantic differential, social assimilation, gender concepts, semantic change, university students

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