Pascal Mark Gygax, born in Evilard/Leubringen (

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

), is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

psycholinguist Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the interrelation between linguistic factors and psychological aspects. The discipline is mainly concerned with the mechanisms by which language is processed and represented in the mind ...

, specializing in

inclusive language Inclusive language is a language style that seeks to avoid expressions that its proponents perceive as expressing or implying ideas that are sexist, racist, or otherwise biased, prejudiced, or insulting to particular group(s) of people; and i ...

in French. He is the cofounder and director of the Psycholinguistics and Applied

Social Psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

Group at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

Biography

Pascal Gygax was born on in Evilard/Leubringen, in the Canton of Bern. He has an older sister. His father is a

microtechnology Microtechnology is technology whose features have dimensions of the order of one micrometre (one millionth of a metre, or 10−6 metre, or 1μm). It focuses on physical and chemical processes as well as the production or manipulation of structures ...

engineer from a family of watchmakers and his mother is English. He grew up in

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

, where he lived until the age of 20. In 1992, he was the Swiss Junior Interclubs Champion in

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. He also coaches the Swiss

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...

team. Gygax studied mathematics for a year at university, after which he studied psychology in England beginning in 1995. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in psychology in 1998 from the

University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...

, a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

sports psychology Sport psychology is defined as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. One definition of sport sees it as "any physical activity for the purposes of competition, recreation, education or health". Sport psychology i ...

and

exercise Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardio ...

the following year at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

, and a doctorate degree in

experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

under the supervision of Jane Oakhill and Alan Garnham at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

in 2002. Gygax regularly gives interviews with

Romandy Romandy ( or ; Arpitan: ''Romandia'')Before World War I, the term French Switzerland () waalso used ( or , , ) is the French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 million people, or 22.8% of the Swiss pop ...

media about matters of inclusive language. He is in a relationship with Sandrine Moeschler, the head of mediation of the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts of Lausanne. They have one daughter, born in 2009. They live in Lausanne.

Academic background and research

In 2002, he returned to Switzerland, where the next year he co-founded and directed the Psycholinguistics and Applied Social Psychology Group in the Department of Psychology at the University of Fribourg. He began working on the issue of

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

in 2004 with social psychologist Ute Gabriel, specializing in the study of inclusive language in French from the perspective of links between language and thought. He explores how language is an unconscious vector of inequalities from a very early age. His experiments show in particular a

cognitive bias A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm (philosophy), norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the ...

in favour of the masculine when interpreting the generic masculine, a bias that contributes to an androcentric view of society. He obtained about 20 national and international funding sources for his research on gender equality. In 2016, he launched the ''Fair Language'' project, aiming to raise funds for continuing research on language's impact on inequalities and the possible interventions to remedy them. He was also the co-author in 2010 of a study about the lack of impact on young people of warnings against smoking that appear on cigarette packaging. For his work as a whole, he received th
Marcel Benoist Prize 2024
the most prestigious scientific award in Switzerland, considered to be the Swiss Nobel Prize.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gygax, Pascal 1974 births Living people Psycholinguists Linguists of French