Gender in action: Stereotype effects in the action observation-verb processing link

Research in embodied cognition has consistently shown a close link between action verb processing and action observation, often attributed to shared sensorimotor representations. However, it remains unclear whether this action-language coupling is modulated by social context. The present research addressed this gap by examining the influence of gender stereotypes on action-language processing. In Experiment 1 (N = 40, 20 female), participants performed a primed action-language task in which pictures of stereotype-consistent (e.g., woman knitting) or stereotype-inconsistent (e.g., man knitting) actions preceded action verbs. Response times revealed that stereotype-consistent primes weakened the standard facilitation effect between action observation and language processing, but only for female participants. Experiment 2 used a larger online sample (N = 181, 48 female) and replicated the modulation of the congruence effect, this time across both genders. Together, these findings indicate that socially shared stereotypes can actively moderate embodied action-language interactions, likely through attentional and/or predictive mechanisms, or through the activation of broader, supra-categorical semantic representations via stereotype-congruent cues.