gender bias

• Universality and bias

  Psychologists hold beliefs and values that have been influenced by social and historical context which can be biassed as it does not reflect objective reality. Bias in research is inevitable despite psychologists discovering facts that are objective. Bias undermines the universality of psychology.
• Alpha bias

  Exaggerates the difference between males and females. Sometimes the difference can heighten the value of women but majority of the time it decreases the value of women in relation to men. Chodorow 1968 mother and daughter have a greater connection than son due to the biological similarities.
• Beta bias

  ignores/ undermines the differences between males and females. fight/ flight response research was done  by only using male animals due to female animal hormones changing and the ovulation cycle, then findings of the research were applied to both genders. Taylor 2000 women tend and befriend by increasing the production of oxytocin to reduce the fight or flight response.
• Androcentrism

  Alpha and beta bias is a consequence of androcentrism. Psychology has been a subject which has been dominated by males. APA released a list of all the top 100 influential researchers in psychology in the 20th century and only 6 were women suggesting psychology was produced by men and done by men. If women's behaviour was considered it was misunderstood. Feminists have rejected PMS as it medicalises women's emotions by explaining them in hormonal terms. But mens anger is seen as a rational response to external pressures (Brescoll and Uhlmann 2008).
• Solutions to bias

  Modern psychology found ways to reduce gender bias and proposed many solutions. An example is one attempt to increase the value of women. Cornwell 2013 females are better at learning than men as they are more attentive and organised, increasing the value of women. This type of research helps to reduce gender stereotypes which is important in reducing gender bias.
• Gender bias against males

  Gender bias can work against males as well as females, as sometimes alpha bias can heighten the value of women. An example Chodorow 1978 viewed women as being more relational and caring. Another is women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression and treated than men. This may be because females are more likely to suffer from depression than men or that the diagnostic system is biassed towards females. The expectation of men to pull themselves together is a masculine trait which may highlight the flaws within the psychological diagnostic system.
• Beta bias

  misrepresentation and negative gender stereotypes but inaccurate theories of human behaviour. An example is the fight or flight research the original research was only done on male animals due to the fluctuation in female hormones and ovulation and the findings from the research was applied to both genders, but Taylor 2000 women adopt the tend and befriend in stressful situations which increases the production of love hormone oxytocin to reduce the fight or flight response. Consequently, research that minimises gender differences results in misrepresentation of women's behaviour.