GENDER BIAS

• GENDER BIAS - PSYCHOLOGY


  Historically, psychology has been a largely male dominated field , and if the female voice is heard at all , its often minimised , marginalised or judged as abnormal.
• UNIVERSALITY


  Universality means that all research is assumed to apply equally to both genders, however these beliefs will be biased leaning towards a view that is not reflect objective reality , bias also undermines a psychologists claim to universality- that conclusions can be applied to everyone ,anywhere , regardless of time and culture
• ALPHA BIAS


  This is where psychological research/theory exaggerates differences between men and women , these differences are presented as fixed and inevitable and more often than not devalue women.
• EXAMPLES OF ALPHA BIAS-FREUD

  In Freuds psychosexual stages of development , in the phallic stage there is a development of desire for opposite gender parents , boys experience castration anxiety(Oedipus) which is resolved during identification, girls experience penis envy(Electra) where the identification is weaker , thus their superego is under developed , making them morally inferior to men

  This is an example of alpha bias as the difference between men and women is overexaggerated & devalues women by saying they are inferior to men
• EVOLOUTIONARY EXPLANATION OF RELATIONSHIPS


  SEX GAMETES-Sperm is plentiful , eggs are very limited

  It is argued that this is an evolutionary advantage for men , for them to have plenty of sex and for women to have limited sex , as women run the risk of not knowing who the father is , supposedly women should be "choosy" on who the father of their offspring is , to inherit the best characteristics
• HOWEVER


  However in modern society contraception is readily available so women don't have to be "choosy" ,this is alpha bias as its overexaggerating the differences between men and women in regards to mating preference
• BETA BIAS


  Where psychological research ignores or underestimates differences , this happens when we assume research can apply equally to both men and women , even when women are excluded from the research process
• EXAMPLE- FIGHT OR FLIGHT


  Biological research has favoured using male animals because female behaviour is affected by regular hormone changes in ovulation , this simply ignores any possible differences , early research assumed both males and females respond to threat with fight or flight , however other research suggests females respond with tend and befriend as more oxytocin in women minimises fight or flight
• KOHLBERGS MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY

  Based his theory on stages of moral development around male moral reasoning on all male participants then generalized his study to women (beta bias) and claiming women reached the lower level of moral development .

  Coral Gilligan highlighted the gender bias in Kohlberg's study and suggested women make more moral decisions in a different way than men (Care ethic v Justice ethic)
• IMPLICATIONS OF GENDER BIAS

  Kitzinger argues that the questions about sex differences aren't just scientific questions there also political , so gender differences are distorted to maintain the status quo of male power

  • women kept out of male dominated universities
  • women are oppressed
  • more female stereotypes
• ANDOCENTRISIM


  Where the behaviour of men is taken as the norm and if the behaviour of women differs its seen as atypical
• AO3 WEAKNESS


  Gender differences in psychological research is often presented as fixed when its not , one study presented findings of several studies that concluded that girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability , it was suggested these differences were hardwired into the brain from birth , a different study found no such differences in the brains structure , instead these fitted popular stereotypes such as girls are "talkers and boys are doers" we should be wary of accepting psychological research as biological facts when they may be social stereotyped
• STRENGTH -A03


  Gender differences have been found in brain structure , one study found that women are better at multitasking due to having better connections between the right and left hemispheres than a mans brain , therefore psychologists shouldn't avoid examining differences , but still be wary of overexaggerating
• WEAKNESS - AO3


  Gender bias promotes sexism in the research process , women remain underrepresented in university departments , particularly in science , undergraduates intake is mainly women but lecturers in psychology are more likely to be men, male researchers may hold incorrect stereotypes , making invalid research , this means research is more likely to be conducted on men and may disadvantage female participants, they may be labelled as irrational or unable to complete complex tasks , this means research methods in psychology produce gender biased findings
• WEAKNESS - AO3


  Research challenging gender bias may not be published , one study found that research on gender bias is less funded and is published less by prestigious journals , this means fewer researchers become aware of this bias or apply it within their own work , this is true as gender bias is far more common than other forms of bias for example ethnic bias , showing gender bias in psychological research is not taken seriously