gender bias

• universality

  • psychologists possess beliefs and values influenced by the social and historical context within which they live
  • this may undermine psychologists' claims to discover facts about human behaviour that are objective, value-free and consistent across time and culture
• bias

  • leaning towards a personal view that doesn't reflect reality
  • gender bias = psychological theory and research may not accurately represent the experience and behaviour of men and women
• alpha bias

  • differences between the sexes are usually presented as fixed and inevitable (differences are exaggerated)
  • these differences are more likely to devalue females in relation to males
• examples of alpha bias

  • alpha bias favouring males = Freud = claimed children, in the phallic stage, desire their opposite-sex parent. this is resolved by identification with their same-sex parent.
  • BUT a girl's identification is weaker, creating a weaker superego and weaker moral development
  • alpha bias favouring females = Chodorow = said that daughters and mothers are more connected than sons and mothers because of biological similarities - so women develop better bonds and empathy for others
• beta bias

  • ignoring or underestimating differences between men and women often occurs when female participants are not included in the research process but it is assumed that research findings apply equally to both sexes
• examples of beta bias

  • early research into fight or flight was based on male animals (because female hormones fluctuate)
  • FoF was assumed to be a universal response to threat
  • Taylor et al = suggested that females exhibit a tend and befriend response governed by the hormone oxytocin which is more plentiful in women (present in small quantities in men) and reduces the FoF response
  • it is an evolved response for caring for young
• androcentrism

  • male centred
  • alpha and beta bias are consequences of androcentrism
  • psychology has traditionally been a subject dominated by males - list of 100 famous psychologists contained 6 females
  • this leads to female behaviour being misunderstood and even pathologised (taken as a sign of illness)
  • eg = feminists object to the category of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) because it medicalises female emotions (eg anger) by explaining these in hormonal terms
  • but male anger is often seen as a rational response to external pressures
• limitation = gender differences are given as fixed and enduring

  • Maccoby and Jacklin = concluded that girls have better verbal ability and boys better spatial ability - due to hardwired biological brain differences
  • Joel et al = used brain scanning and found no such gender differences
  • suggests we should be wary of accepting research as biological factors when it might be explained better as social stereotypes
• counterpoint for gender differences given as fixed

  • ingalhaliker et al = suggests the popular social stereotype that females are better at multitasking may have some biological truth to it - their hemispheres are better connected
  • suggest that there may be biological differences but we still should be wary of exaggerating the effect they may have on behaviour
• limitation = gb promotes sexism in the research process

  • Murphy et al = found that women are underrepresented in university departments - means research is more likely to be conducted by males which may disadvantage females
  • eg = nicoloson = a male researcher may expect female participants to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks, which may mean they underperform
  • means that the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender-biased
• limitation = research challenging bias may not be published

  • formanowicz et al = analysed 1000 articles relating to gb - such research is funded less often and is published by less prestigious journals
  • this still held true when gb was compared to ethic bias AND when other factors were controlled (eg the gender of author/s and methodology)
  • suggests that gb in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias
• extra evaluation

  • gb research creates misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fails to challenge negative stereotypes and validates discriminatory practices
  • BUT = modern researches recognise the effect assumptions have on their work (reflexivity) and embrace them as a crucial aspect of the research process
  • suggests gender bias may add an extra dimension to research if psychologists are up front about it in their work