THE MEANING OF MS - SOCIAL-ASSIMILATION OF A GENDER CONCEPT

When Ms. was first introduced as an alternative to Miss or Mrs. it was perceived as a radical feminist innovation. Today, its use is unremar kable, even normative. This study examines two aspects of the meaning of Ms.: changes in its connotative meaning over time, and its current comparability to other titles. Female (n = 83) and male (n = 54) colle ge students rated courtesy titles (Ms., Miss, Mrs., Mr.) on a set of b ipolar adjective pairs composing a semantic differential scale in an e xact replication of a 1978 study. Of the four titles, the largest chan ge in meaning over time was for Ms., and the direction of the change w as positive. These results document the social assimilation of a new g ender-related concept.