This paper explores how individuals’ language use in gender-specific groups (“mothers” and “fathers”) compares to their interactions when referred to as “parents.” Language adaptation based on the audience is well-documented, yet large-scale studies of naturally-occurring audience effects are rare. To address this, we investigate audience and gender effects in the context of parenting, where gender plays a significant role. We focus on interactions within Reddit, particularly in the parenting Subreddits r/Daddit, r/Mommit, and r/Parenting, which cater to distinct audiences. By analyzing user posts using word embeddings, we measure similarities between user-tokens and word-tokens, also considering differences among high and low self-monitors. Results reveal that in mixed-gender contexts, mothers and fathers exhibit similar behavior in discussing a wide range of topics, while fathers emphasize more on educational and family advice. Single-gender Subreddits see more focused discussions. Mothers in r/Mommit discuss medical care, sleep, potty training, and food, distinguishing themselves. In terms of individual differences, we found that, especially on r/Parenting, high self-monitors tend to conform more to the norms of the Subreddit by discussing more of the topics associated with the Subreddit.

本文探讨了个体在特定性别群体（“母亲”和“父亲”）中的语言使用与被称为“父母”时的互动有何不同。基于受众的语言适应已有充分记录，但对自然发生的受众效应的大规模研究却很少。为了解决这个问题，我们调查了育儿背景下的受众和性别影响，其中性别起着重要作用。我们专注于 Reddit 内的互动，特别是在育儿子版块 r/Daddit、r/Mommit 和 r/Parenting 中，这些子版块迎合了不同的受众。通过使用词嵌入分析用户帖子，我们测量了用户标记和词标记之间的相似性，同时考虑了高自我监控和低自我监控之间的差异。结果显示，在混合性别环境中，母亲和父亲在讨论广泛的话题时表现出相似的行为，而父亲则更强调教育和家庭建议。单性别 Reddit 子版块的讨论更加集中。r/Mommit 中的母亲们讨论医疗保健、睡眠、如厕训练和食物，让自己脱颖而出。就个体差异而言，我们发现，尤其是在 r/Parenting 方面，高度自我监控的人往往会通过讨论更多与 Subreddit 相关的主题来更符合 Subreddit 的规范。