Abstract
Past studies showed that self-construal could be manipulated by the differences in
language use; for example, the use of first-person singular pronouns in a sentence prime
independent self-construal whereas first person plural pronouns prime interdependent selfconstrual. In addition, it has been demonstrated that women are more sensitive to such
manipulations. In the current study, self-construal was manipulated by the use of “I” or “we”
pronouns and it was investigated whether Turkish women are also more sensitive to such
manipulations in pronoun types. The sample consisted of 155 university students. Participants
were asked to state how much they agree with statements including either “I” or “we” as a
personal pronoun. The results showed that, in general, women were more interdependent as
compared to men, but there was no sex difference with regard to independence. Pronoun type
alone did not influence self-construal, but it interacted with sex in predicting interdependent
self-construal. Accordingly, the use of “we” as a pronoun increased interdependence only
among women. The current study contributed to Turkish psychological literature by
demonstrating that self-construal can be primed by manipulating pronoun types and women are
more susceptible to such manipulations. Implications for future research were discussed.
Citation
ID:
91791
Ref Key:
alper2018sexnesne