Gender features of verbal representation of the concept "gender inequality” by university students

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Gender features of verbal representation of the concept "gender inequality” by university students

Tetiana Kostina

Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Ukraine

Diana Drozdova

Horlivka Institute for Foreign Languages of the Donbas State Pedagogical University, Ukraine

Iryna Bulakh

National Pedagogical Drahomanov University, Ukraine

Abstract

verbal gender inequality

The article presents a study of the verbal representation of the concept of "gender inequality" in student youth. The research aims to determine and experimentally investigate the content of the "gender inequality" concept in the students' linguistic consciousness and to analyze its verbally expressed gender features. Verbal representations were obtained based on the use of a controlled association test. The study involved 309 undergraduate and graduate students (199 women and 110 men) of various specialities, aged 17 to 25. According to the experiment results, 840 word-tokens were obtained, including 23 phrases; 160 associations presented single reactions. Gender analysis showed that women provided 539 responses, including 530 verbal (176 original) reactions and nine rejections; men provided 319 reactions: 310 verbal reactions (103 original) and nine rejections. Gender characteristics were determined based on calculating associates' brightness index and forming the core of the associative field. Among the most frequent were woman (.28), men (.24), and feminism (.12). Cognitive interpretation of the data showed that for women, the concept of "gender inequality" has a more negative emotional connotation than for men. For a significant number of women, gender inequality includes experiences that are associated with sexism (.08), discrimination (.07), and violence (.07). Analysis of male associations has shown that the concept of "gender inequality" in men has a less emotional response and is presented at a more abstract (theoretical) level.

Keywords: concept, gender inequality, controlled association test, University student, cognitive interpretation.

Костіна Тетяна, Дроздова Діана, Булах Ірина. Гендерні особливості вербальної репрезентації концепту «гендерна нерівність» студентською молоддю.

Анотація

У статті презентовано результати дослідження вербальної репрезентації концепту «гендерна нерівність» студентської молоді. Вербальні репрезентації були отримані на основі використання спрямованого асоціативного експерименту. У дослідженні взяли участь 309 студентів (199 жінок та 110 чоловіків) різних спеціальностей, віком від 17 до 25 років. За результатами експерименту було отримано 840 слів-реакцій, які включали 23 словосполучення; 160 асоціатів презентовано одиничними реакціями. Гендерний аналіз засвідчив: жінки надали 539 реакцій, серед яких 530 словесних (176 оригінальних) реакцій та 9 відмов; чоловіки надали 319 реакцій: 310 словесних реакцій (103 оригінальних) та 9 відмов. Гендерні особливості були визначені на основі обчислення індексу яскравості асоціатів та формування ядра асоціативного поля. Для жінок найчастотнішими асоціаціями були такі: жінка (0,28), чоловік (0,24), фемінізм (0,12). Когнітивна інтерпретація отриманих даних засвідчила, що для жінок концепт «гендерна нерівність» має більше негативне емоційне забарвлення, ніж для чоловіків. Для значної кількості жінок гендерна нерівність включає досвід, який пов'язаний із сексизмом (0,08), дискримінацією (0,07) та насильством (0,07). Аналіз чоловічих асоціацій засвідчив, що концепт «гендерна нерівність» у чоловіків має менший емоційний відгук та презентований на більш абстрактному (теоретичному) рівні.

Ключові слова: концепт, гендерна нерівність, спрямований асоціативний експеримент, студент університету, когнітивна інтерпретація.

Introduction

At the present stage of the development of Ukrainian society, the need to include a gender component in the study and interpretation of socio-psychological, economic, and political processes is increasingly recognized. Special attention is paid to the issue of gender equality and overcoming discrimination based on gender. Gender analysis is one of the mechanisms to promote gender equality and awareness of the needs of women and men. The European Commission defines gender analysis as "the study of differences in conditions, needs, participation rates, access to resources and development, control of assets, decision making powers, etc. between women and men and their assigned gender roles." (EU, 2016, p. 10). Our state's choice of the European vector requires the community, including scientific ones, to respect gender equality and apply gender analysis in its practical activities.

Gender analysis is a prerequisite for society's development and achieving Sustainable Development Goals. It allows identifying and considering the needs of different participants in social interaction: women and men. Recall that the top five Sustainable Development Goals include achieving gender equality and empowerment for girls and women (UN, 2016).

In Ukraine, there are already examples of applying gender analysis to achieve gender equality. Currently, there is a project to introduce a gender-oriented budgeting (GOB) approach to the budget process. The project aims to increase the economic efficiency and efficiency of budget expenditures considering the needs of men and women and their various groups (MOF, 2013). A systematic approach to the application for a job at the state and local levels combines financial and social aspects of the budget. It contributes to reducing the gender gap in Ukraine. It should be noted that according to data for 2019, Ukraine ranks 74th in terms of the gender gap out of 189 countries (Gender profile of Ukraine, 2020). It should be mentioned that gender equality has been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis of the situation shows a negative impact on women and their life experiences. In particular, there was an increase in domestic violence cases, an increase in the burden on women in the household (unpaid housework: caring for children and the elderly), a decrease in income, and job loss (Kiselova, 2020).

Despite significant changes in gender equality, the so-called "gender blindness" is still present in the Ukrainian society. This term refers to the inability to consider the gender variable or unconscious disregard for gender issues in developing political and social programs (Shevchenko, 2016). For example, "gender blindness" still manifests itself in the construction of school playgrounds, a significant number of which include the equipment of a football field. At first glance (without gender analysis), this is a positive development for the school and students. However, gender analysis allows us to understand the critical points contributing to maintaining gender stereotypes. In particular, the football field attracts boys to activity (they are overwhelmingly active players) and leaves the girls "behind the line" - they watch how the boys play football. It is important to remember that childhood experience is vital for personal development. Moreover, suppose girls, starting from childhood, will experience "being behind the line," observing, and not actively participating in events. In that case, this helps to maintain well-established gender stereotypes (for example, the stereotype of "passivity" of women). This does not mean that football is bad. However, it should be remembered that school budgets are pretty limited in most cases, and the awareness that spending this budget can increase gender inequality is an important issue.

These examples show that gender equality is a complex issue that requires study from different angles and the involvement of scientists from different fields of knowledge.

Modern Ukrainian science shows a positive trend toward increasing the number of studies focusing on gender issues. In particular, research implemented in psycholinguistics has such dynamics. It is worth noting that psycholinguistics has in its arsenal methods that allow studying not only the conscious level but also the deep level of the unconscious part of the psyche (for example, an associative experiment) (Sakharnyi, 1989).

It should be noted that the study of the gender component in the linguistic consciousness of a person has a significant history. One of the first researchers to introduce gender issues to linguistics and psycholinguistics was the American scientist Lakoff (Lakoff, 1973). She updated this question in her book "Language and Woman's Place." Starting with the works by Lakoff, gender is becoming a mandatory component of thorough psycholinguists research.

Today, Ukraine has many psycholinguists studies related to gender issues. In particular, in the study of gender aspects of text construction and interpretation, gender features of communicative interaction (gender imbalance) are presented within gender linguistics and psycholinguistics. Adamenko & Klymenko (2020) analyze the speech behavior of communicants in the context of gender identity. The analysis of gender as a factor of text formation was carried out by Antineskul (200S). The study of gender aspects of the peculiarities of marriage partners' perception of the emotional concept of "jealousy" is presented in the works of Petiak (2020); the associative field of "communication" in gender conceptospheres is reflected in the study of Gett (2009); psycholinguistic aspects of the study of gender and sexuality outside the binary approach (Cameron, 2005).

The study of gender- and role-specific differences in the perception of the concept of "impishness" is described in the works by Bondar and Gordienko-Mitrofanova (20S7); features of male and female verbal behavior (Goroshko, 2004); the influence of gender stereotypes in a speech on attitudes towards speakers are presented in research by Dennison (2006).

A review of approaches to the study of gender in linguistics was carried out by Kirilina (2003). The history of the formation of gender linguistic research and the analysis of gender specifics of the language are presented in the works of Maslova (Maslova, 20S5). As Goroshko (2004) notes, in general, the study of gender imbalance in gender linguistics focuses on the following two groups of issues: S) gender reflection in the language (how men and women are depicted in the language as a system); 2) speech (in a broader sense - communicative) behavior of men and women.

Modern psycholinguistics also presents studies of socio-psychological features of students' formation of gender images (Libakova, 20S4). In addition, research that is devoted to the study of women's experience and gender equality issues is becoming relevant: the impact of a problematic life situation on women's linguistic consciousness (Zavjalova, 20S7); "gendered tongues" and society's attitude to the problem of gender equality (Perez, 2017; Prewitt-Freilino, 20S2). Note that gender inequality is defined as a social process by which people are treated differently and disadvantageously, under similar circumstances, based on gender (Oxford Dictionary, 2007). Gender inequality can manifest itself through gender discrimination, gender- based violence, and the like. Both women and men can be affected by gender inequality. However, in the vast majority, gender inequality is an area of women's experience.

Despite the great interest of scientists and the implemented research (foreign and domestic), many issues require more detailed study. In particular, our theoretical analysis showed the absence of psycholinguistic research on gender inequality in the Ukrainian scientific space. The lack of such studies prompted us to conduct our research, which is presented in this article.

Methods

The study aims to determine and experimentally investigate the content of the "gender inequality" concept in the students' linguistic consciousness and to analyze its verbally expressed gender features.

According to the purpose of the article, such general scientific methods were used as a) analysis of domestic and foreign psycholinguistic sources on the topic of the article; b) systematization of theoretical analysis data on the level of development of gender issues in psycholinguistics; c) generalization of the results of theoretical analysis; d) classification and systematization of factual material that served as an evidence base for conclusions. Psycholinguistic methods included the controlled associative experiment, a method of cognitive interpretation implemented in the form of cognitive commentary (Sternin, 2020). Partial methods included: questionnaires, comparative-descriptive, and mathematical-statistical methods.

The sample population consisted of 309 students aged 17-25 years (M=18.84; SD=1.68) from the V. I. Vernadsky Taurida National University, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, and National Pedagogical Drahomanov University in Ukraine. The study involved 199 females and 110 males. The sample includes nine branches of higher education knowledge, namely: 03 "Humanities" - 25 students, 05 "Social and behavioral sciences" - 69 students, 06 "Journalism" - 6 students, 07 "Management and administration" - 103 students, 10 "Natural Sciences" - 8 students, 12 "Information Technology" - 23 students, 14 "Electrical Engineering" - 1 student, 15 "Engineering automation" - 4 students, 24 "Service Sector" - 70 students.

The composition and quantity of the sample population meet the requirements for conducting a word association test (WAT). Thus, Zalevskaya (2011) noted that the most frequent reactions for directed WAT are already observed in 50 of the studied subjects. If the study considers gender characteristics, then the sample should be at least 200 participants (Dmytryuk, 2015). Some authors emphasize a more significant number of respondents in psycholinguistic studies (Gordiienko-Mytrofanova & Pidchasov, 2018). Taking this information into account, we created a sample of 309 students for our pilot study.

At the beginning of the experiment, students received a questionnaire indicating their age, gender, place of study, speciality, and course. The questionnaire contained three blocks divided according to the research procedure by parts of speech: "nouns," "verbs," and "adjectives." For each part of speech, the students could enter up to three association words in the corresponding columns. For example, the stimulus word was "gender inequality." In this article, we analyze only the associations that were included in the "nouns" block. The results of the analysis of other reactions, represented by the blocks "verbs" and "adjectives," will be covered in our following papers.

Before the experiment, a training exercise was held so that participants understood the process of forming associations. The subjects were offered the following instructions: "now we will perform a training exercise that will allow you to understand and feel the formation of associations for a certain stimulus. I want to emphasize that you should name the first reactions that come to mind when you hear the word I will name. I emphasize that no "right" or "wrong" associations exist. You name what comes to your mind. So now I name a stimulus word, and you get associations to it, which should be represented by nouns, adjectives, and verbs (up to three-word associations)." The experimenter calls the stimulus "letter." Participants provide associations: tree, paper, news (nouns); look, smell, send (verbs); empty, bright, soft (adjectives) and the like. Next, students were asked a question about their understanding of the process of providing answers-associations to the stimulus and their understanding of the procedure. After the training exercise, participants received an experimental stimulus word and provided associations according to the instructions. The study was conducted in Ukrainian, and the informants provided their responses in writing.

Many psycholinguistic studies are implemented using the free WAT. It is believed that free WAT is "a tool for measuring the unconscious components of the semantic space of recipients" (Zasiekina & Zasiekin, 2008, p. 55). Studies (Vinogradova & Sternin, 2016) show that nouns usually make up the predominant number of informants' reactions in a free WAT. Therefore, we chose a controlled WAT to determine the specifics of the concept of "gender inequality" in representing different parts of speech and not just nouns. Sakharny (1989) emphasized the ability of a controlled WAT to obtain "deep associative connections". The research procedure allowed us to determine the connections in students' minds between the concept and its associations.

Results and Discussion

According to the experiment results, 858 response words to the proposed stimulus were obtained: 840 (98%) reaction words and 18 failures (2%); word-tokens were obtained, which included 23 phrases; 160 associations presented single reactions. Gender analysis revealed the following: women gave 539 responses, including 530 verbal (176 original) responses and nine rejections; men gave 319 responses: 310 verbal responses (103 original) and nine rejections. The number of associations obtained exceeds the number of study participants since the directed A.E. we applied involved multiple responses to the word stimulus.

The following word-associations were obtained: агресія / aggression 4, агресор / aggressor 1, анатомія / anatomy 1, байдужість / indifference 4, безглуздість / absurdity 1, бійка / fray 1, біль / pain 3, біосміття / biowaste 1, боротьба / struggle 10, бредове ставлення людей один до одного / a delusional attitude of people to each other 1, брехня / lies 1, брєд / rave 2, ваги / scales 1, Верховна Рада / Verkhovna Rada 1, взаєморозуміння / mutual understanding 2, вибір / choice 1, витривалість / endurance 1, виховання / nurture 1, відношення / attitude 1, відстоювання / defending 1, вічність / eternity 2, влада / power 5, впевненість / confidence 1, гей / gay 4, ген / gene 1, гендер / gender 8, Голлівуд / Hollywood 1, гомосексуал / homosexual 1, гомосексуали / homosexuals 1, гомофобія / homophobia 4, Грета Тунберг/агресія / Greta Thunberg/aggression 1, гроші / money 3, дискомфорт / discomfort 1, дискримінація / discrimination 20, дитина / child 2, дівчина / girl 2, діти / children 1, докір / reproach 1, домінант / dominant 3, домінантність / dominance 2, домінація / domination 4, домінування / dominating 1, дочка / daughter 1, думка / opinion 2, егоїст / egoist 2, ейджизм / ageism 1, жаль / pity 1, жах / horror 1, жертви домашнього насильства / victims of domestic violence 1, жінка / woman 91, жінки / women 9, жінки>чоловіки / women> men 1, жорстокість / cruelty 1, закон / law 3, залежність / dependence 1, зарплата / salary 1, захоплення / delight 1, заява / statement 1, зневага / neglect 2, зневіра / despondency 1, з'ясовування / finding out 1, ідіоти / idiots 1, ідіотизм / idiocy 1, індивідуальність / individuality 2, інтрига / intrigue 1, іслам / Islam 1, істерія / hysteria 1, кабмін / cabmin (cabinet of ministers) 1, кайдани / shackles 1, Кароліна / Karolina 1, керівник / supervisor 1, компроміс / compromise 1, комунікація / communication 1, конфлікт / conflict 2, кохання / love 1, краса / beauty 1, ЛГБТ / LGBT 1, лідерство / leadership 1, любов / love 2, любов до однієї статі / love for the same sex 1, люди / people 7, людина / human being 6, малозабезпеченій^ / needy 1, маніпуляції / manipulation 1, маразм / marasmus 2, маскулінність / masculinity 1, матріархат / matriarchy 3, менша заробітна плата / lower wages 1, минуле століття / last century 1, мітинг / meeting 2, мораль / morality 1, моральна залежність / moral dependence 1, морок / gloom 1, мусульманство / Islam 2, навіювання / suggestion 1, надуманість / far-fetchedness 1, наполегливість / persistence 1, насильство / violence 17, невизначеність / uncertainty 1, невихованість / discourtesy 1, невпевненість / uncertainty 2, непорозуміння / misunderstanding 2, незалежність / independence 3, нейтральність / neutrality 1, необхідність / necessity 1, неосвіченість / ignorance 2, неповага / disrespect 4, неподобство / ugliness 1, нерівні права / unequal rights 1, нерівність / inequality 24, нерівноправ'я / inequality 4, нерозуміння / incomprehension 4, несправедливість / injustice 32, нечесність / dishonesty 1, ні як усі / not like everyone 1, новини / news 1, нововведення / innovation 2, обмежені у кар'єрі / limited in career 1, обмеженість / limitation 1, обмеження / limitation 2, обов'язки / responsibilities 2, образа / insult 3, обурення / indignation 1, орієнтація / orientation

особистість / personality 2, особливості / features 1, осуд / censure 1, патріархат / patriarchy 5, перевага / advantage 4, переваги / advantages 1, питання / question

плакати / posters 1, повага / respect 2, погляди / views 1, політика / politics 1, помилка / error 2, поняття / concept 1, популярність / popularity 2, порівняння / comparison 1, почуття / feeling 1, права / rights 25, право / right 11, право вибору / the right to choose 1, правопорушення / offense 1, праця / labor 3, представники ЛГБТ / LGBT people 1, пригнічення / oppression 7, пригноблення / oppression 2, придушення / suppression 1, приниження / humiliation 11, природність / naturalness 1, проблема / problem 6, протест / protest 2, протести / protests 3, райдуга / rainbow 1, расизм / racism 3, расовий конфлікт / racial conflict 1, рівність / equality 14, рівновага / balance 2, рівнозначність / equivalence 1, рівноправ'я / equal rights 10, робота / work 4, роботодавець / employer 1, розподіл / distribution 1, розум / mind 1, розумово відсталі / mentally retarded 1, роль / role 1, рольовий конфлікт / role conflict 1, самодостатність / self-sufficiency 1, сварки / quarreling 2, свобода / freedom 2, секс / sex 2, сексизм / sexism 21, сила / power 7, сім'я / family 3, слабкість / weakness 1, слиз / mucus 1, совість / conscience 1, соціальний устрій / social system 1, соціум / society 4, співстраждання / compassion 1, спільноти / communities 2, спір / dispute 1, спокій / calmness 2, справедливість / justice 11, ставлення / attitude 1, старовина / ancientry 1, статевий орган / genital organ 1, статус / status 2, стать / sex 23, стереотип / stereotype 11, стереотипи / stereotypes 1, стосунки / relationship 3, суддя / judge 1, суди / courts 1, сум / sadness 2, суперечка / dispute 3, суперник / opponent 1, суперництво / rivalry 1, суспільство / society 10, суфражистка / suffragette 2, телебачення / television 1, тиша / silence 1, толерантність / tolerance 1, традиція / tradition 2, транс-гендер / trans-gender 4, тривога / anxiety 1, тупість / stupidity 1, тюрма / prison 1, увага / attention 2, уникнення невизначеності / avoidance of uncertainty 1, упереджене ставлення / preconception 1, утиск / oppression 4, фемінізм / feminism 37, феміністка / feminist 8, феміністки / feminists 5, хлопець / guy 2, хрест (як заборона) / cross (as prohibition) 1, чеславність / vanity 1, чоловік / man 81, чоловік та жінка / man and woman 1, чоловіки / men 7, чутливість / sensitivity 1, шовінізм / chauvinism 2, штампи / cliche 1; refusals - S8.

Here we present the most frequent responses to the "gender inequality" stimulus (10 associations with a total frequency 371): жінка / woman 91 (10.6%), чоловік / man 8S (9.4%), фемінізм / feminism 37 (4.3%), несправедливість / injustice 32 (3.7%), права / rights 25 (2.9%), нерівність / inequality 24 (2.8%), стать / sex 23 (2.7%), сексизм / sexism 21 (2.4%), дискримінація / discrimination 20 (2.3%), насильство / violence 17 (2%). Reactions with more than 2% frequency were taken as the associative core of the associative field; reactions frequency less than 2% were assigned to the periphery (Goroshko, 200S). The periphery was divided into the near periphery from S% to 2% and the far periphery - less than S%. The following reactions were included in the near periphery (9 associates with a total frequency of 97): рівність / equality 14 (1.6%), стереотип / stereotype 11 (1.3%), право / right 11 (S.3%), справедливість / justice 11 (1.3%), приниження / humiliation 11 (1.3%), боротьба / struggle 10 (1.2%), суспільство / society 10 (1.2%), рівноправ'я / equal rights S0 (S .2%), жінки / women 9 (1%).

We see that in the linguistic consciousness of respondents, the concept of "gender inequality" is associated with the words "woman" and "man," which are actually included in the definition of gender equality - equal legal status of women and men and equal opportunities for its implementation (Shevchenko, 20S6). Also, one of the frequency associations is the word "feminism." It should be noted that representatives of the feminist movement actualized equal rights and opportunities for women. Today, feminism has not lost its relevance since equality may be declarative in nature, but it is not implemented.

A more detailed analysis of the most frequent associations will be provided in the context of gender characteristics: a comparative analysis of the reactions of women and men is carried out.

We present the associations that women provided during the experiment. Note that we highlight the words-reactions that are common to women and men. We chose this method of submitting results due to a restriction on the volume of the article.

For women, the concept of "gender inequality" has the following verbal representation: (539: 530/176/9): агресія / aggression 4, агресор / aggressor 1, анатомія / anatomy 1, байдужість / indifference 4, бійка / fray 1, біль / pain 1, біосміття / biowaste 1, боротьба / struggle 4, бредове ставлення людей один до одного / a delusional attitude of people to each other 1, брехня / lies 1, брєд / rave 2, ваги / scales 1, взаєморозуміння / mutual understanding 2, вибір / choice 1, витривалість / endurance 1, виховання / nurture 1, відношення / attitude 1, відстоювання / defending 1, вічність / eternity 1, влада / power 3, впевненість / confidence 1, гей / gay 4, ген / gene 1, гендер / gender 5, Голлівуд / Hollywood 1, гомосексуал / homosexual 1, гомосексуали / homosexuals 1, гомофобія / homophobia 3, Грета Тунберг/агресія / Greta Thunberg/aggression 1, гроші / money 2, дискомфорт / discomfort 1, дискримінація / discrimination 14, дитина / child 2, дівчина / girl 2, діти / children 1, докір / reproach 1, домінант / dominant 1, домінантність / dominance 2, домінація / domination 1, домінування / dominating 1, дочка / daughter 1, думка / opinion 1, ейджизм / ageism 1, жаль / pity 1, жах / horror 1, жертви домашнього насильства / victims of domestic violence 1, жінка / woman 55, жінки / women 7, жорстокість / cruelty 1, закон / law 1, захоплення / delight 1, заява / statement 1, зневага / neglect 2, з'ясовування / finding out 1, ідіоти / idiots 1, ідіотизм / idiocy 1, індивідуальність / individuality 2, істерія / hysteria 1, кайдани / shackles 1, керівник / supervisor 1, компроміс / compromise 1, конфлікт / conflict 2, кохання / love 1, краса / beauty 1, ЛГБТ / LGBT 1, лідерство / leadership 1, любов / love 1, любов до однієї статі / love for the same sex 1, люди / people 3, людина / human being 3, маніпуляції / ma nipulation 1, маразм / marasmus 2, матріархат / matriarchy 1, менша заробітна плата / lower wages 1, мітинг / meeting 1, мусульманство / Islam 1, насильство / violence 13, невизначеність / uncertainty 1, невихованість / discourtesy 1, невпевненість / uncertainty 1, недорозуміння / misunderstanding 2, незалежність / independence 1, необхідність / necessity 1, неосвіченість / ignorance 2, неповага / disrespect 2, неподобство / ugliness 1, нерівні права / unequal rights 1, нерівність / inequality 14, нерівноправ'я / inequality 4, нерозуміння / incomprehension 4, несправедливість / injustice 21, ні як усі / not like everyone 1, обмежені у кар'єрі / limited in career 1, обмеженість / limitation 1, обмеження / limitation 1, обов'язки / responsibilities 2, образа / insult 2, обурення / indignation 1, орієнтація / orientation 1, особистість / personality 2, осуд / censure 1, патріархат / patriarchy 3, перевага / advantage 3, питання / question 2, помилка / error 2, поняття / concept 1, популярність / popularity 2, права / rights 14, право / right 5, право вибору / the right to choose 1, пригнічення / oppression 3, пригноблення / oppression 2, придушення / suppression 1, приниження / humiliation 7, природність / naturalness 1, проблема / problem 4, протест / protest 2, протести / protests 3, райдуга / rainbow 1, расизм / racism 3, расовий конфлікт / racial conflict 1, рівність / equality 2, рівновага / balance 1, рівноправ'я / equal rights 7, робота / work 4, роботодавець / employer 1, розум / mind 1, розумово відсталі / mentally retarded 1, роль / role 1, рольовий конфлікт / role conflict 1, самодостатність / self-sufficiency 1, сварки / quarreling 2, свобода / freedom 1, секс / sex 1, сексизм / sexism 15, сила / power 4, слабкість / weakness 1, соціальний устрій / social system 1, соціум / society 2, спільноти / communities 2, спокій / calmness 2, справедливість / justice 3, старовина / ancientry 1, стать / sex 13, стереотип / stereotype 6, стереотипи / stereotypes 1, стосунки / relationship 3, суддя / judge 1, суди / courts 1, сум / sadness 2, суперечка / dispute 3, суспільство / society 8, суфражистка / suffragette 1, телебачення / television 1, тиша / silence 1, толерантність / tolerance 1, традиція / tradition 2, транс -гендер / trans-gender 4, тривога / anxiety 1, тупість / stupidity 1, тюрма / prison 1, увага / attention 2, уникнення невизначеності / avoidance of uncertainty 1, упереджене ставлення / preconception 1, утиск / oppression 2, фемінізм / feminism 24, феміністка / feminist 5, феміністки / feminists 3, хлопець / guy 2, хрест (як заборона) / cross (as prohibition) 1, чоловік / man 47, чоловік та жінка / man and woman 1, чоловіки / men 5, чутливість / sensitivity 1, шовінізм / chauvinism 2, штампи / cliche 1; refusals - 9. Among the associations provided by female students, there were S76 original reaction words. We can see that the core of the associative field of women was made up of the following 10 associates: жінка / woman 55 (10.4%), чоловік / man 47 (8.9%), фемінізм / feminism 24 (4.5%), несправедливість / injustice 21 (4%), сексизм / sexism 15 (2.8%), нерівність / inequality 14 (2.6%), дискримінація / discrimination S4 (2.6%), права / rights 14 (2.6%), насильство / violence 13 (2.5%), стать / sex 13 (2.5%). The near periphery includes the following 5 associates: суспільство 8 (1.5%), жінки 7 (1.3%), приниження 7 (1.3%), рівноправ'я 7 (S.3%), стереотип 6 (1.S%).

Verbal representation of the concept "gender inequality" by male students (3S9: 310/103/9): безглуздість / absurdity 1, біль / pain 2, боротьба / struggle 6, Верховна Рада / Verkhovna Rada 1, вічність / eternity 1, влада / power 2, гендер / gender 3, гомофобія / homophobia 1, гроші / money 1, дискримінація / discrimination 6, домінант / dominant 2, домінація / domination 3, думка / opinion

егоїст / egoist 2, жінка / woman 36, жінки / women 2, жінки>чоловіки / women>men 1, закон / law 2, залежність / dependence 1, зарплата / salary 1, зневіра / despondency 1, інтрига / intrigue 1, іслам / Islam 1, кабмін / cabmin (cabinet of ministers) 1, Кароліна / Karolina 1, комунікація / communication 1, любов / love 1, люди / people 4, людина / human being 3, малозабезпеченість / needy 1, маскулінність / masculinity 1, матріархат / matriarchy 2, минуле століття / last century 1, мітинг / meeting 1, мораль / morality 1, моральна залежність / moral dependence 1, морок / gloom 1, мусульманство / Islam 1, навіювання / suggestion 1, надуманість / far-fetchedness 1, наполегливість / persistence 1, насильство / violence 4, невпевненість / uncertainty 1, незалежність / independence 2, нейтральність / neutrality 1, неповага / disrespect 2, нерівність / inequality 10, несправедливість / injustice 11, нечесність / dishonesty 1, новини / news 1, нововведення / innovation 2, обмеження / limitation 1, образа / insult 1, особливості / features 1, патріархат / patriarchy 2, перевага / advantage 1, переваги / advantages 1, плакати / posters 1, повага / respect 2, погляди / views 1, політика / politics 1, порівняння / comparison 1, почуття / feeling 1, права / rights право / right 6, правопорушення / offense 1, праця / labor 3, представники ЛГБТ / LGBT people 1, пригнічення / oppression 4, приниження / humiliation 4, проблема / problem 2, рівність / equality 12, рівновага / balance 1, рівнозначність / equivalence 1, рівноправ'я / equal rights 3, розподіл / distribution 1, свобода / freedom 1, секс / sex 1, сексизм / sexism 6, сила / power 3, сім'я / family 3, слиз / mucus 1, совість / conscience 1, соціум / society 2, співстраждання / compassion 1, спір / dispute 1, справедливість / justice 8, ставлення / attitude 1, статевий орган / genital organ 1, статус / status 2, стать / sex 10, стереотип / stereotype 5, суперник / opponent 1, суперництво / rivalry 1, суспільство / society 2, суфражистка / suffragette 1, утиск / oppression 2, фемінізм / feminism 13, феміністка / feminist 3, феміністки / feminists 2, чеславність / vanity 1, чоловік / man 34, чоловіки / men 2; refusals - 9. Among the associations provided by male students, there were 103 original reaction words. The core of the associative field of male students was made up of the following 9 associates: жінка / woman 36 (13.3%), чоловік / man 34 (10.7%), фемінізм / feminism 13 (4.1%), рівність / equality 12 (3.8%), несправедливість / injustice 11 (3.4%), права / rights 11 (3,4%), нерівність / inequality 10 (3.1%), стать / sex 10 (3.1%), справедливість / justice 8 (2.5%). Ближню периферію склали 7 асоціатів: боротьба / struggle 6 (1.9%), дискримінація / discrimination 6 (1.9%), право / right 6 (1.9%), сексизм / sexism 6 (1.9%), стереотип / stereotype 5 (1.6%), люди / people 4 (1.3%), насильство / violence 4 (1.3%).

In addition to the percentage analysis, Sternin (2020) and Rudakova (2015) also suggest using the brightness index (BI) of each associative reaction, which indicates the ratio of the number of study participants who provided this reaction to the total number of respondents.

Taking into account the BI, the core associations and near periphery to the stimulus word for women are: жінка / woman .28, чоловік / man .24, фемінізм / feminism .12, несправедливість / injustice .11, сексизм / sexism .08, нерівність / inequality .07, дискримінація / discrimination .07, права / rights .07, насильство / violence .07, стать / sex .07. For the near periphery, we have the following indicators of the BR: суспільство / society .04, жінки / women .04, приниження / humiliation .04, рівноправ'я / equal rights .04, стереотип / stereotype .03. The resulting numbers were rounded to hundredths by the rounding rules using special software (online calculator).

For male students, we have the following indicators BI associations of the core and near periphery on the stimulus word "gender inequality”: жінка / woman .33, чоловік / man .31, фемінізм / feminism .12, рівність / equality .11, несправедливість / injustice .10, права / rights .10, нерівність / inequality .10, стать / sex .09, справедливість / justice .07.

BI for the near periphery is боротьба / struggle 6 .05, дискримінація / discrimination .05, право / right .05, сексизм / sexism .05, стереотип / stereotype .05, люди / people .04, насильство / violence .04.

In this article, we present an analysis of the associations of the students' associative field, which make up ten associations for women and nine associations for men. These associations have the highest frequency and have a BI of at least .05. As noted by Vinogradova & Stemin (2016, p. 48), "semantic components with BI .05 or more should be included to describe the psycholinguistic meaning" of the concept. Analysis of the near and far periphery will be carried out in our subsequent publications. The gender features of verbal representation of "gender inequality" by young people are presented in Table 1.

Associative responses of respondents to the stimulus word “gender inequality”

We will perform a cognitive interpretation of the obtained data using cognitive commentary. We share the opinion of Sternin (2020) that any interpretation of the results of psycholinguistic experiments is always subjective and may differ from one researcher to another. We also emphasize that cognitive commentary shows only specific trends in cognitive understanding of the phenomena of consciousness but does not imply a categorical statement about this or that fact.

The results show that in the linguistic consciousness of informants of both female and male students, the most frequent associations are the words жінка / woman and чоловік / man. At the same time, male students have a higher rate of BI of these words than women: .33 vs .28 (woman) and .3S vs .24 (man). For men, "gender inequality" is more related to the interaction between women and men.

Table 1

Results of Word Association Test

Note. Associations, original for women and men, are highlighted in grey color

The following association with the same BI for both women and men is фемінізм / feminism (.S2). This is evidence that feminism is entering the verbal representation of "gender inequality" among young people. Simultaneously, the research procedure does not make it possible to determine students' emotional and evaluative attitudes to such a phenomenon as feminism (positive, negative, neutral). We can also assume that there may be differences in the attitude of women and men to this phenomenon. We will look for the answer to this question in our future research.

An analysis of the associations provided by women shows the following. In women's experience, "gender inequality" is associated with such phenomena as несправедливість / injustice (.11), сексизм / sexism (.08), нерівність / inequality (.07), дискримінація / discrimination (.07), права / rights (.07), насильство / violence (.07), and a person's belonging to a certain gender (gender - .07). We see that" gender inequality" has a more negative connotation for women than for men. Existing associations confirm that "gender inequality" is not just an abstract phenomenon for women. On the contrary, it is an experience in their lives and represents a sense of injustice. Women face discrimination, including gender discrimination - sexism; manifestations of violence (we noted above that the negative consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic increased in domestic violence cases). Unlike women, there were no words such as sexism, discrimination, and violence among the core associations provided by men. The results show that gender inequality for women is not just an abstract category but an experience that includes negative manifestations of socio-psychological interaction.

Analysis of the core of the associative field of men's reactions shows that the concept of "gender inequality" is represented through such words as рівність / equality (.11), несправедливість / injustice (.10), права / rights (.10), нерівність / inequality (.09), стать / sex (.09), справедливість / justice (.07). Like women, men associate gender inequality with rights and gender. However, in men, the word права / rights has a higher brightness index than in women: .10 vs .07. This result can be explained by the fact that men associate gender equality with increased rights for women. In fact, this process took place in the history of society's development: gender equality began with women's struggle for rights (vote rights, economic rights and the like). However, the lower rates of women can be explained by the fact that gender inequality for women is more relevant due to the experience of injustice, which can manifest itself in the discrepancy between declarative rights and their actual implementation. Like women, men associate the concept of "gender inequality" with the word стать / sex, but this indicator is higher for men at .09 for men and .07 for women. For male students, gender inequality can more often be represented through a person's belonging to one or another gender.

Just as female students associate gender inequality with injustice and inequality, we also see reactions that are the opposite of the proposed stimulus and are represented by the words рівність / equality (.11) and справедливість / justi ce (.07). The associations provided are antonymic responses to the proposed stimulus. One assumption in explaining such results may be that gender inequality for men is a kind of abstraction that does not find an "emotional response" in the subject's experience. The explanation may be that men are less likely to face manifestations of gender inequality (discrimination, sexism, domestic violence and the like) towards themselves.

Conclusions

The conducted research based on a directed associative experiment made it possible to study and compare the content of the concept of "gender inequality" in the linguistic consciousness of students. It was determined that such associations as жінка / women and чоловік / man have the highest representation. Estimating the brightness index of the provided associations made it possible to systematize the results obtained and identify the cores of the associative field of female and male students.

Comparative Analysis revealed gender features of representation of the concept of "gender inequality." In particular, the most frequent associations (жінка / woman; чоловік / man; фемінізм / feminism) are common to both female and male students but have different expression levels. The high level of the фемінізм / feminism association brightness index and its equal level in both women and men indicate the critical role of the feminist movement in combating gender inequality. However, the question of the specifics of attitudes to feminism (positive or negative) on both women and men needs to be clarified.

Cognitive interpretation of the data showed that the "gender inequality" concept has a more negative emotional connotation for female students than male students. For a significant number of women, gender inequality includes experiences related to sexism, discrimination, and violence. Analysis of male associations has shown that the concept of gender inequality in men has a less emotional response and is presented at an abstract (theoretical) level.

The results obtained confirm the relevance of the problem of gender inequality in Ukrainian society. The search for effective measures to eliminate various forms of discrimination and promote gender equality is significant. We see the prospect of further research in studying the concept of "gender inequality" in a larger sample population: to expand the age limits of participants in the experiment. We also consider it is promising to carry out a cross-cultural study of the verbal representation of gender inequality.

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