Numerous studies investigated the phenomenon of implicit verb causality (cf. Rudolph & Försterling, 1997). This research revealed the robust finding that different types of interpersonal verbs lead to systematic causal attributions to one of the interacting persons. However, few studies addressed the interaction between verb causality and context variables. The present cross-cultural study investigates implicit gender roles in action and state verbs comparing two samples from Germany and China. Results show that the German sample perceived actions to be caused by men whereas states were causally attributed to women. However, our Chinese sample perceived men and women rather equally accountable

Bekk, Magdalena

Klaas, Hannah S.

Spörrle, Matthias

Tumasjan, Andranik

English

Open Access LMU

Gender roles and implicit causalityAndranik Tumasjan, Magdalena Bekk, Hannah S. Klaas & Matthias Spörrle                            2. MethodParticipantsOur convenience sample consisted of 386 university students which were recruited at two universities in Germany and China: 195 students (117 female, age: 18-31, M = 22.17, SD = 2.09) were recruited on the campus of the University of Munich (Germany) and 191 students (111 female, age: 18-30, M = 22.05, SD = 2.13) were recruited at the University of Nanjing (China).MaterialWorking together with three Chinese native speakers in Germany, the German version of the questionnaire was translated into Chinese and back-translated into German. The validity of the Chinese version was ensured by pretesting Chinese native speakers in Germany (N = 40).The questionnaire consisted of 24 scenarios each represented by a minimal sentence of the pattern “A [interpersonal verb] B”. Six Numerous studies investigated the phenomenon of implicit verb causality (cf. Rudolph & Försterling, 1997). This research revealed the robust finding that different types of interpersonal verbs lead to systematic causal attributions to one of the interacting persons. However, few studies addressed the interaction between verb causality and context variables. The present cross-cultural study investigates implicit gender roles in action and state verbs comparing two samples from Germany and China. Results show that the German sample perceived actions to be caused by men whereas states were causally attributed to women. However, our Chinese sample perceived men and women rather equally accountable.1. IntroductionInterpersonal verbs describe either an action (e.g., to arrest) or a state (e.g., to love) taking place between people. Previous research has shown that these verbs lead to specific attributions regarding either the sentence subject or object even if no further information is provided. Hence, a 2 x 2 = 4 verb type scheme reflecting these two independent features can be derived(Rudolph & Försterling, 1997; see Table 1).Verb class State verb Action verbLexical definition to experience, to feel to act, to doVerb typeSEStimulus-ExperiencerESExperiencer-StimulusAPAgent-PatientAEAgent-EvocatorTable 1: Four verb types of interpersonal verbs according to the Revised Action-State Distinction (Rudolph & Försterling, 1997)scenarios for each verb type were selected based on the Revised Action-State Distinction (Rudolph & Försterling, 1997). After each scenario respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they perceived the subject and the object as male or female on two separate rating scales for A and B, respectively. We used 11-point rating scales ranging from 0 (“more likely male”) to 10 (“more likely female”). Existing research has shown that these verbs also give rise to specific attributions regarding the sex of the sentence subject and object. For example, LaFrance, Brownell, and Hahn (1997) found for an American sample that actors are perceived to be more causally accountable when acting towards a female recipient. Moreover, they showed that females are seen more causally accountable in bringing others to act towards them.In line with these findings Rudolph, Spörrle, and Krokenberger (2003) found for a German sample that actions are perceived as being executed by men, whereas states are perceived as being induced by men and experienced by women. However, these results have been obtained in individualist cultures and to our knowledge there is no study examining these effects cross-culturally. The scope of the present study was to compare gender role attributions between a German (i.e., individualist culture) and a Chinese (i.e., collectivist culture) sample.3. ResultsComparing the subject gender attribution between the two countries for action and state verbs, a two-way ANOVA showed a significant main effect for country, F(1, 384) = 17.27, p < .001, η² = .03. Thus, the sentence subject is perceived as being more male in China (M = 4.40, SD = 1.03) than in Germany (M = 4.76, SD = .67). Moreover, there was also a significant main effect for action (M = 4.32, SD = 1.01) vs. state verbs (M = 4.84, SD = 1.03), F(1, 384) = 102.26, p < .001, η² = .06. Hence, in both countries the sentence subject is perceived rather male for action verbs than for state verbs. Attribution subject object subject objectExample surprise like dominate praiseFigure 2: ANOVA action vs. state verbs and Germany vs. ChinaDifference Score (sentence subject minus object)GermanyChinaFigure 1: ANOVA action vs. state verbs and Germany vs. ChinaSubject attribution (0 = male; 10 = female)References:Lafrance, M., Brownell, H., & Hahn, E. (1997). Interpersonal verbs, gender, and implicit causality. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60, 138-152.Rudolph, U., & Försterling, F. (1997). The psychological causality implicit in verbs: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 192-218.Rudolph, U., Spörrle, M., & Krokenberger, G. (2003). Ein Verb sagt mehr als 1000 Worte: Zur wahrgenommenen Verursachung von interpersonalen Ereignissen unter Berücksichtigung von Geschlechtsstereotypen. [A verb says more than 1000 words: On the perceived causality in interpersonal events with respect to gender stereotyping] [Abstract]. In J. Golz, F. Faul & R. Mausfeld (Eds.), Experimentelle Psychologie. Abstracts der 45. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (p. 130). Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers. 4. DiscussionBoth countries: The ones who experience feelings are perceived as female whereas those who act are perceived as male. Germany vs. China: In Germany people seem to perceive especially state verbs as being both equally male and female. The Chinese sample on the other hand differentiates more between the sex of the subject and object than the German sample. This effect occurred even stronger for state than for action verbs indicating that the two countries differ in particular in their attribution of state verbs in so far as Chinese people hold a more traditional view and regard states, primarily, as something more feminine.Moreover, a significant interaction indicates that this differentiation between action and state verbs is stronger in Germany than in China, F(1, 384) = 4.99, p < .05, η² = .01 (see Figure 1).Using a difference score (subject gender attribution minus object gender attribution) an analogous two-way ANOVA showed a significant main effect for country (China: M = -0.84, SD = 1.75, Germany: M = -0.17, SD = 0.88 ) , F(1, 384) = 23.05, p < .001, η² = .04, as well as a significant interaction between country and verb class, F(1, 384) = 7.76, p < .01, η² = .01. Thus, people in China seem to differentiate more between subject’s and object’s sex than people in Germany and this differentiation was even more pronounced for state verbs compared to action verbs (see Figure 2).GermanyChinaContact: andranik.tumasjan@gmail.com, spoerrle@psy.uni-muenchen.de

[A verb says more than 1000 words: On the perceived causality in interpersonal events with respect to gender stereotyping] [Abstract]. In

Ein Verb sagt mehr als 1000 Worte: Zur wahrgenommenen Verursachung von interpersonalen Ereignissen unter Berücksichtigung von Geschlechtsstereotypen.

Interpersonal verbs, gender, and implicit causality.

Gender roles and implicit causality

Universität München: Elektronischen Publikationen

Gender roles and implicit causality
Andranik Tumasjan, Magdalena Bekk, Hannah S. Klaas & Matthias Spörrle                            
2. Method
Participants
Our convenience sample consisted of 386 university students 
which were recruited at two universities in Germany and China: 
195 students (117 female, age: 18-31, M = 22.17, SD = 2.09) 
were recruited on the campus of the University of Munich 
(Germany) and 191 students (111 female, age: 18-30, M = 22.05, 
SD = 2.13) were recruited at the University of Nanjing (China).
Material
Working together with three Chinese native speakers in Germany, 
the German version of the questionnaire was translated into 
Chinese and back-translated into German. The validity of the 
Chinese version was ensured by pretesting Chinese native 
speakers in Germany (N = 40).
The questionnaire consisted of 24 scenarios each represented by 
a minimal sentence of the pattern “A [interpersonal verb] B”. Six 
Numerous studies investigated the phenomenon of implicit verb causality (cf. Rudolph & Försterling, 1997). This research revealed the robust 
finding that different types of interpersonal verbs lead to systematic causal attributions to one of the interacting persons. However, few studies 
addressed the interaction between verb causality and context variables. The present cross-cultural study investigates implicit gender roles in 
action and state verbs comparing two samples from Germany and China. Results show that the German sample perceived actions to be caused 
by men whereas states were causally attributed to women. However, our Chinese sample perceived men and women rather equally accountable.
1. Introduction
Interpersonal verbs describe either an action (e.g., to arrest) or a state (e.g., 
to love) taking place between people. Previous research has shown that 
these verbs lead to specific attributions regarding either the sentence subject 
or object even if no further information is provided. Hence, a 2 x 2 = 4 verb 
type scheme reflecting these two independent features can be derived
(Rudolph & Försterling, 1997; see Table 1).
Verb class State verb Action verb
Lexical definition to experience, to feel to act, to do
Verb type
SE
Stimulus-
Experiencer
ES
Experiencer-
Stimulus
AP
Agent-
Patient
AE
Agent-
Evocator
Table 1: Four verb types of interpersonal verbs according to the 
Revised Action-State Distinction (Rudolph & Försterling, 1997)
scenarios for each verb type were selected based on the Revised 
Action-State Distinction (Rudolph & Försterling, 1997). After each 
scenario respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they 
perceived the subject and the object as male or female on two 
separate rating scales for A and B, respectively. We used 11-point 
rating scales ranging from 0 (“more likely male”) to 10 (“more 
likely female”). 
Existing research has shown that these verbs also give rise to specific 
attributions regarding the sex of the sentence subject and object. For 
example, LaFrance, Brownell, and Hahn (1997) found for an American 
sample that actors are perceived to be more causally accountable when 
acting towards a female recipient. Moreover, they showed that females are 
seen more causally accountable in bringing others to act towards them.
In line with these findings Rudolph, Spörrle, and Krokenberger (2003) found 
for a German sample that actions are perceived as being executed by men, 
whereas states are perceived as being induced by men and experienced by 
women. However, these results have been obtained in individualist cultures 
and to our knowledge there is no study examining these effects cross-
culturally. The scope of the present study was to compare gender role 
attributions between a German (i.e., individualist culture) and a Chinese (i.e., 
collectivist culture) sample.
3. Results
Comparing the subject gender attribution between the two countries for action 
and state verbs, a two-way ANOVA showed a significant main effect for 
country, F(1, 384) = 17.27, p < .001, η² = .03. Thus, the sentence subject is 
perceived as being more male in China (M = 4.40, SD = 1.03) than in 
Germany (M = 4.76, SD = .67). Moreover, there was also a significant main 
effect for action (M = 4.32, SD = 1.01) vs. state verbs (M = 4.84, SD = 1.03), 
F(1, 384) = 102.26, p < .001, η² = .06. Hence, in both countries the sentence 
subject is perceived rather male for action verbs than for state verbs. 
Attribution subject object subject object
Example surprise like dominate praise
Figure 2: 
ANOVA action vs. state verbs and Germany vs. China
Difference Score (sentence subject minus object)
Germany
China
Figure 1: 
ANOVA action vs. state verbs and Germany vs. China
Subject attribution (0 = male; 10 = female)
References:
Lafrance, M., Brownell, H., & Hahn, E. (1997). Interpersonal verbs, gender, and implicit causality. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60, 138-152.
Rudolph, U., & Försterling, F. (1997). The psychological causality implicit in verbs: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 192-218.
Rudolph, U., Spörrle, M., & Krokenberger, G. (2003). Ein Verb sagt mehr als 1000 Worte: Zur wahrgenommenen Verursachung von interpersonalen Ereignissen unter Berücksichtigung von Geschlechtsstereotypen. 
[A verb says more than 1000 words: On the perceived causality in interpersonal events with respect to gender stereotyping] [Abstract]. In J. Golz, F. Faul & R. Mausfeld (Eds.), Experimentelle Psychologie. 
Abstracts der 45. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (p. 130). Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers. 
4. Discussion
Both countries: The ones who experience feelings are perceived as female whereas those who act are perceived as male. 
Germany vs. China: In Germany people seem to perceive especially state verbs as being both equally male and female. The Chinese sample on 
the other hand differentiates more between the sex of the subject and object than the German sample. This effect occurred even stronger for state 
than for action verbs indicating that the two countries differ in particular in their attribution of state verbs in so far as Chinese people hold a more 
traditional view and regard states, primarily, as something more feminine.
Moreover, a significant interaction indicates that this differentiation between 
action and state verbs is stronger in Germany than in China, F(1, 384) = 4.99, 
p < .05, η² = .01 (see Figure 1).
Using a difference score (subject gender attribution minus object gender 
attribution) an analogous two-way ANOVA showed a significant main effect for 
country (China: M = -0.84, SD = 1.75, Germany: M = -0.17, SD = 0.88 ) , F(1, 
384) = 23.05, p < .001, η² = .04, as well as a significant interaction between 
country and verb class, F(1, 384) = 7.76, p < .01, η² = .01. Thus, people in 
China seem to differentiate more between subject’s and object’s sex than 
people in Germany and this differentiation was even more pronounced for 
state verbs compared to action verbs (see Figure 2).
Germany
China
Contact: andranik.tumasjan@gmail.com, spoerrle@psy.uni-muenchen.de


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Gender roles and implicit causality

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