Persistence of the Gender Frame: Gender Perceptions of Ambiguous Chinese and Gender-Neutral American Names in the United States

Abstract

How do people conduct gender classification in ambiguous contexts? A gender framing perspective suggests the pervasiveness and consequences of using gender in novel contexts, but there is a paucity of knowledge about how people assign a gender to ambiguous targets in interpersonal relations. This study fills in this knowledge gap by investigating how U.S. individuals classify the gender of two types of gender-ambiguous names—Chinese names written in English letters and gender-neutral American names. It also examines how respondents’ gender ideologies and racial stereotypes are associated with their perceptions of gender-ambiguous names. An online survey experiment with 795 U.S. individuals finds that respondents predominantly assign a binary gender (versus neutral or unsure) to both Chinese names (40.8 percent men and 37.4 percent women) and gender-neutral American names (41.1 percent men and 19.4 percent women). Multivariate analyses reveal that respondents with traditional gender ideologies associate a gender-binary perception with gender-neutral American names rather than Chinese names. Meanwhile, respondents who endorse the racialized stereotypes that Chinese people are socially cold and/or generally competent are more likely to perceive Chinese names as men’s names. These findings demonstrate that a gender-binary frame persists in ambiguous contexts, and that the classification outcome is conditional on contextual signals and preexisting cultural beliefs. They also deepen understanding of gender neutrality during social interactions and a gendered nature of racialized stereotypes.

Plain Language Summary

Understanding How Americans Guess the Gender of Ambiguous Names

In a world where names often give us a clue about a person’s gender, what happens when a name does not fit the usual patterns? This study looks at this question about how Americans react to names that do not clearly indicate whether the person is men or women. It focused on two kinds of names that can be tricky to classify: Chinese names written with English letters (like “Zihan” or “Yan”) and American gender-neutral names that are used by all genders (like “Robin” or “Charlie”). I recruited nearly 800 people in the U.S. to take part in an online survey. They were shown these gender-ambiguous names and asked to guess the gender of the person. Most of the time, people in the study decided that the name belonged to a binary gender, either women’s names or men’s names. This was true for both the Chinese names and the American names, even if I also gave them the options of “Gender neutral” and “I am not sure.” But why? I find that people’s own beliefs about gender differences and their stereotypes about Chinese individuals played a role. People with more traditional views about men and women were more likely to see the American gender-neutral names as a binary-gender name, rather than gender neutral or indicating uncertainty. And for the Chinese names, people who hold ideas about Chinese people being less friendly or very competent were more likely to guess these names as men’s names. What this study shows is that even when it is not clear, many people still see gender in a very dichotomous way. It also shows that the way we think about gender ambiguity is influenced by our cultural background and our personal beliefs. As society becomes more gender inclusive and as people from various cultures interact more, it is important to understand how these subtle cues, like names, influence the way we think about each other.