Question

Some instructors use the generic pronoun he when referring to psychologists and the generic pronoun she when referring to administrative assistants. In students' minds, they automatically think of psychologists as men and administrative assistants as women. Why?

Answer 1

Answer:

LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM PREDICTS THAT THE LANGUAGE SHAPES ONE'S THINKING.

Explanation:

Linguistic determinism is the idea that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought, as well as thought processes such as categorization, memory, and perception. The term implies that people who speak different languages as their mother tongues have different thought processes.

Linguistic Determinism suggests that one's language determines the ways one's mind constructs categories.

Some instructors use "he" when referring to psychologists and "she" when referring to adminstrative assistant, because of this, students automatically assign the role of psychologists to men (he) and the role of adminstrative assistant to women (she); this is because their language has shaped their thinking.

Therefore, in students' minds, they automatically think of psychologists as men and administrative assistants as women because LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM PREDICTS THAT THE LANGUAGE SHAPES ONE'S THINKING.