Dear Sir/Madam, did you know that this reference shows 'sexist thinking'?

IN THE written word at least, men still come first, just as they did centuries ago, according to a new study suggesting sexism is as prevalent as ever.

Letters that begin "Dear Sir/Madam" and references to "Mr and Mrs" are both remnants of "sexist thinking", say researchers.

And they say referring to a couple as "David and Sarah" instead of "Sarah and David" and phrases such as "his and hers" are a throwback to 16th century sexism.

Tests by scientists found using such phrases was an in-built habit, extending to same-sex couples where the person deemed more masculine was named first.

The study, by researchers at the University of Surrey, said the tradition began in the 16th century when men were considered "worthier" than women. Even though most people would no longer agree with the reasons for such thinking, they still follow an in-built sexist urge to name the male partner first.

Dr Peter Hegarty and colleagues conducted a series of tests for the British Journal of Social Psychology. First they made up 20 mixed sex couples using the most popular boys names and the most popular girls names. Then they searched the internet for both combinations, such as "David and Sarah" and "Sarah and David".

Of all the mentions they found, 79 per cent were for combinations where the boy's name is first and 21 per cent for where the girl's name is first.

In a further test, 121 people were given details of two fictitious couples, one created to be traditional and conformist, the other more radical and offbeat, and asked to give them names. The majority of the "traditional" couples were given the male name first, though there was an even split with the "non-traditional" couple.

In a third test, 86 volunteers were asked to come up with names for same-sex couples and then to describe the characteristics of each partner, such as sporty or fashionable, muscular or feminine. When matching the names against the personality traits, a clear majority had written the more masculine of the pair first, said the University of Surrey researchers.

Dr Hegarty said: "In the 16th century, naming men before women became the acceptable word order to use because of the thinking that men were the worthier sex. While the original sexist ideas behind this grammar are no longer accepted, gender stereotypes still affect the written language.

"The results of our studies suggest that people tend to put men, or male qualities, before women. As this is a remnant of the sexist grammar of the 16th century, it would seem that psychologically, we are still sexist in writing."

The study found the exception was when referring to a couple where the female is an old friend rather than her partner, so people may refer to "Caroline and Simon" if they know her better.

Dr Cynthia McVeigh, head of psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: "I don't think people would consciously think to put a man's name first. I think you could actively correct it.

"It might be because one partner seems more dominant or you know one better than the other. Or it might just be easier to say in one direction than the other."