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Beyond she and he : a framework for studying the cognitive, psychological and social effects of gender-neutral pronouns

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Abstract
In recent years, gender-neutral pronouns have emerged in different languages. We review current research on their emergence and offer an interdisciplinary framework for studying and understanding gender-neutral pronouns. Our framework is aimed at sparking and guiding interdisciplinary research on gender-neutral pronouns. The framework incorporates (cross-)linguistic and cognitive aspects of the function, use and processing of gender-neutral pronouns in light of the fact that different language systems (i.e., conceptual vs. grammatical gender languages) require different degrees of linguistic creativity in order to expand the word class of pronouns. Furthermore, we link these linguistic and cognitive considerations with research on the social-psychological effects of the use of gender-neutral pronouns, more specifically on how they affect the well-being of nonbinary people with regard to social stigmatization and discrimination (minority perspective) as well as how their attitudes are linked with attitudes on non-binary individuals (majority perspective). Integrating these different aspects, we highlight the current gaps in the literature, make concrete suggestions for future research approaches, and emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary research on this multifaceted topic.
Keywords
grammatical gender, pronoun, non-binary, mental representations, attitudes, gender-neutral, self-identification, stereotypes, LANGUAGE USE, TRANSGENDER, BIAS

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MLA
Jäggi, Tiziana, et al. “Beyond She and He : A Framework for Studying the Cognitive, Psychological and Social Effects of Gender-Neutral Pronouns.” JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, vol. 44, no. 6, 2025, pp. 850–80, doi:10.1177/0261927X251346193.
APA
Jäggi, T., Gygax, P., Decock, S., Gabriel, U., Van Hoof, S., Verhaegen, H., & Vincent, C. (2025). Beyond she and he : a framework for studying the cognitive, psychological and social effects of gender-neutral pronouns. JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 44(6), 850–880. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X251346193
Chicago author-date
Jäggi, Tiziana, Pascal Gygax, Sofie Decock, Ute Gabriel, Sarah Van Hoof, Hanne Verhaegen, and Chloé Vincent. 2025. “Beyond She and He : A Framework for Studying the Cognitive, Psychological and Social Effects of Gender-Neutral Pronouns.” JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 44 (6): 850–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X251346193.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Jäggi, Tiziana, Pascal Gygax, Sofie Decock, Ute Gabriel, Sarah Van Hoof, Hanne Verhaegen, and Chloé Vincent. 2025. “Beyond She and He : A Framework for Studying the Cognitive, Psychological and Social Effects of Gender-Neutral Pronouns.” JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 44 (6): 850–880. doi:10.1177/0261927X251346193.
Vancouver
1.
Jäggi T, Gygax P, Decock S, Gabriel U, Van Hoof S, Verhaegen H, et al. Beyond she and he : a framework for studying the cognitive, psychological and social effects of gender-neutral pronouns. JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. 2025;44(6):850–80.
IEEE
[1]
T. Jäggi et al., “Beyond she and he : a framework for studying the cognitive, psychological and social effects of gender-neutral pronouns,” JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 850–880, 2025.
@article{01JWTK38E0J4FE65Z4GE3H1QF3,
  abstract     = {{In recent years, gender-neutral pronouns have emerged in different languages. We review current research on their emergence and offer an interdisciplinary framework for studying and understanding gender-neutral pronouns. Our framework is aimed at sparking and guiding interdisciplinary research on gender-neutral pronouns. The framework incorporates (cross-)linguistic and cognitive aspects of the function, use and processing of gender-neutral pronouns in light of the fact that different language systems (i.e., conceptual vs. grammatical gender languages) require different degrees of linguistic creativity in order to expand the word class of pronouns. Furthermore, we link these linguistic and cognitive considerations with research on the social-psychological effects of the use of gender-neutral pronouns, more specifically on how they affect the well-being of nonbinary people with regard to social stigmatization and discrimination (minority perspective) as well as how their attitudes are linked with attitudes on non-binary individuals (majority perspective). Integrating these different aspects, we highlight the current gaps in the literature, make concrete suggestions for future research approaches, and emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary research on this multifaceted topic.}},
  author       = {{Jäggi, Tiziana and Gygax, Pascal and Decock, Sofie and Gabriel, Ute and Van Hoof, Sarah and Verhaegen, Hanne and Vincent, Chloé}},
  issn         = {{0261-927X}},
  journal      = {{JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY}},
  keywords     = {{grammatical gender,pronoun,non-binary,mental representations,attitudes,gender-neutral,self-identification,stereotypes,LANGUAGE USE,TRANSGENDER,BIAS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{850--880}},
  title        = {{Beyond she and he : a framework for studying the cognitive, psychological and social effects of gender-neutral pronouns}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X251346193}},
  volume       = {{44}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

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