Morphosyntactic stereotypes of speakers with different genders and sexual orientations: an experimental investigation

Previous research has identified differences in language use between speakers representing different genders and sexual orientations, as well as stereotypical beliefs about the existence of such differences. The present paper investigates such stereotypical beliefs among speakers of two varieties of Spanish and explores whether linguistic stereotypes of gender and sexual orientation are stronger in a society with more conservative gender roles. We conducted an experiment where 252 speakers of European and Mexican Spanish were shown pairs of texts and sentences depicting the same event but differing in the use of morphosyntactic resources, creating stereotypically “masculine” and “feminine” variants of the same text or sentence. The informants were asked which of the variants was more likely uttered by a woman (rather than a man), a lesbian woman (rather than a straight woman), or a gay man (rather than a straight man). Some of the morphosyntactic features were strongly associated with speaker gender (e.g., use of first- and second-person singular) and others with lesbian (e.g., use of impersonal structures) or gay speakers (e.g., direct reported speech). Contrary to expectations, the responses did not differ according to informants’ age, gender, or nationality. While the present study did not reveal any differences between the two societies, more cross-linguistic and cultural research is needed to elucidate the effect of society on morphosyntactic variation and stereotypes thereof.This research is funded by a grant of the Kone Foundation (202007066) to the first author and by a grant of the German Research Foundation to the second author (KA 5005-1/1)

Assessing Diversity Dimensions in Environmental Psychology: Challenges and Recommendations

Representing diversity is a ubiquitous challenge in environmental psychology: Many researchers aim to describe the diversity of their samples by collecting characteristics such as gender, age, and socioeconomic status, and the (lack of) diversity of participants is often discussed when dealing with the generalizability of environmental psychology findings (e.g., for different ethnic groups). Some standard instruments for measuring sociodemographic characteristics can be problematic because they are based on outdated concepts (e.g., a two-gender system) and are inappropriate for accurately capturing participant heterogeneity. To address this issue, we compare and extend existing approaches for the operationalization of sociodemographic characteristics and provide recommendations for capturing and documenting diversity in environmental psychology in particular. In addition, we discuss measures of specific diversity dimensions (migration/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender and sexual orientation) and provide recommendations for assessing them in general. Thereby, we aim to promote the use of more inclusive measures to assess sociodemographic characteristics and to stimulate an enriching discussion about representing diversity dimensions in environmental psychology

"Do I sound straight?" (Kachel et al., 2018)

<div><b>Purpose: </b>This study aims to give an integrative answer on which speech stereotypes exist toward German gay and straight men, whether and how acoustic correlates of actual and perceived sexual orientation are connected, and how this relates to masculinity/femininity. Hence, it tests speech stereotype accuracy in the context of sexual orientation.</div><div><b>Method: </b>Twenty-five gay and 26 straight German speakers provided data for a fine-grained psychological self-assessment (e.g., masculinity/femininity) and explicit speech stereotypes. They were recorded for an extensive set of read and spontaneous speech samples using microphones and nasometry. Recordings were analyzed for a variety of acoustic parameters (e.g., fundamental frequency and nasalance). Seventy-four listeners categorized speakers as gay or straight on the basis of the same sentence.</div><div><b>Results: </b>Most relevant explicitly expressed speech stereotypes encompass voice pitch, nasality, chromaticity, and smoothness. Demonstrating implicit stereotypes, speakers were perceived as sounding straighter, the lower their median f0, center of gravity in /s/, and mean F2. However, based on actual sexual orientation, straight men only showed lower mean F1 than gay men. Additionally, we found evidence that actual masculinity/femininity and the degree of sexual orientation were reflected in gay and straight men’s speech. </div><div><b>Conclusion: </b>Implicit and explicit speech stereotypes about gay and straight men do not contain a kernel of truth, and differences within groups are more important than differences between them.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Supplemental Material S1. </b>Distribution of speakers regarding sexual orientation on Kinsey-like scale (modified version from Kinsey, Pomeroy, & Martin, 1948) in Sessions 1 and 2.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Supplemental Material S2. </b>Schematic sagittal view of the isolation plate and nasal and oral microphones. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Supplemental Material S3.</b> Spectrograms of the second syllable from two tokens of <i>getaucht</i> (“dived”) with (left) and without (right) a stretch of breathy voice following voice onset time (VOT). The breathy voiced stretch is annotated with VOT+.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Supplemental Material S4.</b> Online questionnaire.</div><div><br></div><div>Kachel, S., Simpson, A. P., & Steffens, M. C. (2018). “Do I sound straight?”: Acoustic correlates of actual and perceived sexual orientation and masculinity/femininity in men’s speech. <i>Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61,</i> 1560–1578.<i> </i>https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-S-17-0125</div><div><br></div

Investigating the common set of acoustic parameters in sexual orientation groups: A voice averaging approach.

While the perception of sexual orientation in voices often relies on stereotypes, it is unclear whether speech stereotypes and accurate perceptions of sexual orientation are each based on acoustic cues common to speakers of a given group. We ask if the stereotypical belief, that members of the same sexual orientation group share similar acoustic patterns, is accurate to some degree. To address this issue, we are the first to use a novel voice morphing technique to create voice averages from voices that represent extremes of a given sexual orientation group either in terms of actual or perceived sexual orientation. Importantly, averaging preserves only those acoustic cues shared by the original speakers. 144 German listeners judged the sexual orientation of twelve natural-sounding sentence stimuli, each representing an average of five original utterances. Half of the averages were based on targets' self-ratings of sexual orientation: On a 7-point Kinsey-like scale, we selected targets who were most typical for a certain sexual orientation group according to their self-identifications. The other half were based on extreme ratings by others (i.e., on speech-related sexual-orientation stereotypes). Listeners judged sexual orientation from the voice averages with above-chance accuracy suggesting 1) that the perception of actual and stereotypical sexual orientation, respectively, are based on acoustic cues shared by speakers of the same group, and 2) that the stereotypical belief that members of the same sexual orientation group share similar acoustic patterns is accurate to some degree. Mean fundamental frequency and other common acoustic parameters showed systematic variation depending on speaker gender and sexual orientation. Effects of sexual orientation were more pronounced for stereotypical voice averages than for those based on speakers' self-ratings, suggesting that sexual-orientation stereotypes exaggerate even those differences present in the most salient groups of speakers. Implications of our findings for stereotyping and discrimination are discussed

Structure determination and ligand interactions of the PDZ2b domain of PTP-Bas (hPTP1E): splicing-induced modulation of ligand specificity

Two versions of the PDZ2 domain of the protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP-Bas/human PTP-BL are generated by alternative splicing. The domains differ by the insertion of five amino acid residues and their affinity to the tumour suppressor protein APC. Whereas PDZ2a is able to bind APC in the nanomolar range, PDZ2b shows no apparent interaction with APC. Here the solution structure of the splicing variant of PDZ2 with the insertion has been determined using 2D and 3D heteronuclear NMR experiments. The structural reason for the changed binding specificity is the reorientation of the loop with extra five amino acid residues, which folds back onto beta-strands two and three. In addition the side-chain of Lys32 closes the binding site of the APC binding protein and the two helices, especially alpha-helix 2, change their relative position to the protein core. Consecutively, the binding site is sterically no longer fully accessible. From the NMR-titration studies with a C-terminal APC-peptide the affinity of the peptide with the protein can be estimated as 540(+/-40)microM. The binding site encompasses part of the analogous binding site of PDZ2a as already described previously, yet specific interaction sites are abolished by the insertion of amino acids in PDZ2b. As shown by high-affinity chromatography, GST-PDZ2b and GST-PDZ2a bind to phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) micelles with a dissociation constant K(D) of 21 microM and 55 microM, respectively. In line with these data PDZ2b binds isolated, dissolved PIP(2) and PIP(3) (phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate) molecules specifically with a lower K(D) of 230(+/-20)microM as detected by NMR spectroscopy. The binding site could be located by our studies and involves the residues Ile24, Val26, Val70, Asn71, Gly77, Ala78, Glu85, Arg88, Gly91 and Gln92. PIP(2) and PIP(3) binding takes place in the groove of the PDZ domain that is normally part of the APC binding site