Pseudo names are more than hollow words: Sex differences in the choice of pseudonyms
Journal of Language and Social Psychology, (in press)Abstract
Many studies demonstrate sex differences in communication. We investigated whether also pseudonyms used in anonymity revealed the sex of the pseudonym user and whether male and female pseudonyms were perceived differently regarding sex-typical attributes (partially taken from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory), the Big Five, and creativity. Pseudonyms chosen by 19 men and 19 women were randomly selected from a list of 2,096 pseudonyms used in written university tests and then rated by a total number of 346 participants (41% men) on the above-mentioned attributes. Results showed that the pseudonym users’ sex was guessed correctly above chance. Male more than female pseudonyms were perceived as showy, aggressive, self-reliant, extrovert, and creative. Female pseudonyms were rated higher on the attributes cute, peaceful, romantic, and agreeable. We further found sex differences with respect to linguistic patterns (e.g., pseudonym length) that were, however, able to explain neither guessed sex, nor the higher creativity ratings for male pseudonyms. We conclude that even single words are used by individuals to infer significant information (e.g., sex) about their users.