“SHE’S JUST A SLUT”: THE EFFECT OF LANGUAGE ON THE PERCEIVED VALUE AND WORTH OF WOMEN Thesis Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Master of Arts in Communication By Melissa Marie Hughes UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, OH May, 2016 “SHE’S JUST A SLUT”: THE EFFECT OF LANGUAGE ON THE PERCEIVED VALUE AND WORTH OF WOMEN Name: Hughes, Melissa Marie APPROVED BY: ________________________________________ T. L. Thompson, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor ________________________________________ J. E. Combs, Ph.D. Committee Member ________________________________________ J. D. Robinson, Ph.D. Committee Member ii ABSTRACT “SHE’S JUST A SLUT”: THE EFFECT OF LANGUAGE ON THE PERCEIVED VALUE AND WORTH OF WOMEN Name: Hughes, Melissa Marie University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. Teresa Thompson This study examines the word “slut” and its impact on the way 638 participants perceived an individual woman. Two test groups were established using a survey that briefly describes a fictional woman named “Stacy”. Test group B received a survey that contained the word “slut/slutty” in reference to “Stacy” whereas Test Group A received a survey that contained the words “flirt/flirty” in reference to Stacy. Using a semantic differential scale that featured 20 word pairings, this study examined the likelihood that participants who were exposed to the word “slut” perceived “Stacy” more negatively than those who were not. Results show that the participants who were exposed to the word “slut” did perceive “Stacy” somewhat more negatively overall and in relation to word pairings that were both specifically related to promiscuity and specifically unrelated to promiscuity. The implications of these findings are discussed within a Symbolic Interactionalist framework and conclusions are made about the impact on society at large. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To all of my teachers throughout the years who have fostered in me a lasting love for learning, especially for those who sparked my love for language arts and communication. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of some amazing educators who inspired me and challenged me along the way. To Dr. Teresa Thompson, this thesis would have truly been impossible without your guidance. Thank you for seeing the value in this concept when it was just a crazy “what if” bouncing around in my head, and for seeing it through to the end with me. Thank you for spending countless hours counseling me, editing my work, and helping me through my endless issues with statistics – it’s been a long journey and I am so grateful to have had such an amazing advisor to help me though it! To Dr. Jason Combs, thank you for serving as a member of my committee, I greatly appreciate all the insights you provided along the way. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to experience many of your classes over the last five years. In both your undergraduate and graduate courses I have learned valuable lessons that I believe have made me more successful in the graduate program and in my life outside of academics. To Dr. James Robinson, thank you for serving as a member of my committee, I appreciate your insights and your dedication to this project. Thank you for always challenging me, you have encouraged me to work hard and to grow as a person and a student. iv To Dr. Joseph Valenzano, thank you for all of the help and encouragement that you’ve provided for me this year. I appreciate your willingness to listen to my ideas and contribute to my thesis process despite not being directly involved in the project. Most importantly, thank you for your wisdom, you have been a great mentor to me this year. To my parents, Theresa Collins and Robert Hughes, thank you for everything you’ve done for me that has brought me to where I am today. Thank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams and for giving me every possible opportunity to succeed. Thank you for making it possible for me to go to this amazing school. The University of Dayton has been an integral part of my development and happiness over the past five years; I can’t imagine my life without this incredible place and it wouldn’t have been possible for me to go here without your support. Thank you for everything you do for me and for always putting your children first. Finally, thank you for all of support you have given me during this process, you helped ease my stress and reassure me on this path. I’m so grateful to you both! To Jeff Chudik for being my biggest supporter and best friend. Thank you for helping me celebrate the successes and work thorough the rough patches. I can always count on you to cheer me up or calm me down, you’ve done so much to help keep me sane during stressful times! Endless thanks for all the emotional support; I love you. Finally, to all of the great feminists in my life who have inspired me and helped shape me into the person I am today. Thank you for your strength and your passion, thank you for imparting your wisdom to me and for never, ever giving up. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………...………………………………………………………...…….iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……...………………………………………………...………iv LIST OF TABLES………………...……………………………………………………..vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………...……………………………….1 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE……….......…………………………………9 CHAPTER 3: METHODS…………………..…………………………………………...22 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS…………………..…………………………………………….28 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION………………………………….………………………....45 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………..…61 APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………………..65 A. Survey Instructions/Description of “Stacy” for Test Group A…………..…..65 B. Survey Instructions/Description of “Stacy” for Test Group B……………....66 C. Semantic Scale Survey/Instructions Used for Both Test Group A and B........67 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1A:Frequency of ages……………………………………..…………….……..….30 Table 1B: Frequency of gender………………………………………..….…………..….30 Table 1C: Frequency of race………………………………………..………………...….31 Table 1D: Frequency of citizenship………………………………...……………….…...31 Table 2: Principle Components Factor Analysis……………………..……………….…33 Table 3A: T-test on summed items loading on factor one………………………….……38 Table 3B: Means on summed items loading on factor one...……….......…………..……38 Table 4A: T-test on summed items not loading on factor one……………………...……39 Table 4B: Means on summed items not loading on factor one…...........……………...…39 Table 5A: T-test on all summed items………………… .………………….……………40 Table 5B: Means on all summed items………..………….……….......…………………40 Table 6A: T-tests on individual items……….…………….………......…………………41 Table 6B: Means on individual items………...………….………………………………43 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Theoretical Frameworks Sexual violence is a pervasive issue entrenched in modern society in the United States and much of the world (Nicholson, Min Qi, Maney, Yuan, Mahoney, & Adame, 1998). According to Nicholson et al., rates of violent sexual crimes have been steadily increasing over the past two decades, particularly on college campuses. There has been a documented increase of reported sexual assault cases by teenagers and adults, particularly on college campuses, since 1992 (Nicholson et al.). It is important to mention that even with these growing numbers of reported sexual assaults, cases of sexual assault or aggression often go unreported due to the uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding the event or societal pressure on the victim (Koss, Gidycz & Wisniewski, 1987). In a national study conducted by Koss et al. (1987), 6,159 men and women in 32 different universities were interviewed about their experiences with rape, attempted rape, and sexual coercion. The study’s results indicated that 27.5% of the women had experienced an event that met the legal definition of rape (Koss et al.). Likewise, 7.7% of the men described experiences where they were the perpetrator of an event that met the legal definition of rape. Although this issue began to garner attention in the United States 1 in the 1990’s, it is still a pressing matter in society today. In fact, this problem is still so critical that a shocking one out of every five women in the United States are assaulted every year (White House Task Force, 2014). In January of 2014, the White House spoke out about this countrywide epidemic and publically announced that they would began to take action against sexual assault issues, specifically on college campuses. The White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault was created as an initiative to help raise awareness about the issue, provide resources to victims, and provide education that aims at reducing the number of assaults (Keith, 2014; White House Task Force, 2014). In a radio interview discussing the new initiative, Vice President Joe Biden stated, “Colleges and universities can no longer turn a blind eye, or pretend rape and sexual assault doesn't occur on their campus” (Keith). As an extension of the White House Task Force, a website titled NotAlone.gov was created as a resource for people all over the country. The Not Alone website provides key resources under headings such as “Find a Crisis Service, Know Your Rights, How to File a Complaint, and Changing Our Campus Culture” (NotAlone.gov). In addition to this website, the White House Task Force has also paired up with the organization It’s On Us and released several national commercials urging the public to become more educated about sexual assault, to recognize the signs, and to step in and speak up in order to prevent assault when possible. Clearly, all of these initiatives and efforts are an implication that sexual assault is still a prevalent issue in the US, particularly on college campuses. The study conducted by Koss et al. (1987), mentioned above, noted that although 27.5% of the women had experienced an event that met the legal definition of rape and 2 7.7% of the men described experiences where they were the perpetrator of an event that met the legal definition of rape, close to none of the people involved in the study had been part of any legal justice system.