The power of language : the use, effect, and spread of gender-inclusive language

Abstract

This dissertation investigates a new social phenomenon: the use of gender-inclusive language (GIL). Leveraging language as a strategic research site, this dissertation contributes to understanding a current social phenomenon in Germany and advances the sociological understanding of how behavioural change occurs and is experienced. As the title suggests, the thesis has three distinct contributions. First, it traces the use of GIL in news media in Germany since 2000. It documents an unexpectedly rapid increase in GIL and explores how this may be explained based on the patterns of use in different news media over time. Second, it tests the effect of GIL using a digital field experiment on a crowd-working platform. It finds no change in behaviour when GIL is used. Third, it quantitatively establishes that the use of GIL in the German media has plateaued as of 2022, which is referred to as incipient change, i.e. a situation where two competing behaviours exist. It, therefore, turns to qualitative interviews to explore how individuals experience and navigate this situation of two competing behaviours. Overall, this dissertation empirically establishes and documents the rise of a new phenomenon, tests its behavioural effect, and explores how individuals navigate a state of incipient change.