On the Internet, Everybody Knows You Are a Man (but Not a Woman): Varying Gender
Identity in Online Discourse
ICA Tracking Number: ICA-13-11823
Abstract
Anonymity on the Internet allows one to take on different personas and explore new
identities. There has been research that shows that people take personas of the opposite gender.
However, verbal cues in text messages often reveal a person’s identity, even if he or she is
communicating under the guise of an online nickname belonging to the opposite gender.
Recreating a message board utility that they are familiar with, each subject in this study was
asked to rate a constructed text message using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). This study
used a two by two factorial design that manipulated the gender-oriented cues in the text message
and the gender of the handle or nickname accompanying the message. The results showed
different effects of masculine and feminine personality items of the BSRI in each of the four
conditions.