“A Giant Leap for Mankind”, but What About Women? The Role of System-Justifying Ideologies in Predicting Attitudes Toward Sexist Language

Sexist language excludes, trivializes or diminishes either gender. Despite efforts by many

professional bodies to encourage the use of nonsexist alternatives, sexist language use

persists across many languages. Further, research has shown that men are less supportive of

nonsexist language alternatives than women, and that this effect is mediated by attitudes

toward women. We propose that broader ideologies related to the perceived legitimacy of

dominance hierarchies and existing social systems also explain this gender gap. British

undergraduate participants completed measures of attitudes toward women, gender-specific

system justification, and social dominance orientation. They also completed an inventory of

attitudes toward sexist language. There was a strong gender difference in attitudes toward

sexist language that was significantly mediated by gender-specific system justification and

social dominance orientation. The relationship between gender and attitudes toward sexist

language therefore appears to be driven by broader ideologies that serve to keep women “in

their place”.