Gender Bias

• What undermines psychology’s claims to universality?

  Bias
• What is Alpha Bias in gender research?

  Research that exaggerates differences between genders
• What are the two types of Gender Bias?

  • Alpha Bias
  • Beta Bias
• What does Beta Bias focus on in gender research?

  Similarities between men and women
• What assumption does Beta Bias make about the 'fight or flight' response?

  Both genders 'fight or flight'
• What did Taylor et al (2000) claim about women's response to stress?

  Women tend to 'tend and befriend'
• What is Androcentrism?

  Male-centered judgment of behavior
• How is women's behavior often perceived compared to men's?

  Misunderstood
• What does Ingalhalikar et al (2014) suggest about women's multitasking abilities?

  • Women may have better multitasking abilities
  • Better connections between brain hemispheres
  • Biological truth to social stereotypes
• What did Maccoby & Jacklin (1974) conclude about gender differences?

  Girls have superior verbal ability, boys spatial ability
• What did Joel et al (2015) find regarding brain structure differences?

  No sex differences in brain structure
• What caution should be taken regarding biological research findings?

  They may be explained as social stereotypes
• What issue do women face in university departments, especially in science?

  Underrepresentation
• What did Murphy et al (2014) find about psychology lecturers?

  Lecturers tend to be men
• How might the gender of researchers affect psychological findings?

  May disadvantage female participants
• What did Formanowicz et al (2018) analyze regarding gender bias in research?

  • Analyzed over 1000 articles
  • Gender bias is funded less often
  • Published in less prestigious journals
  • Fewer scholars aware of gender bias
• What did researchers argue about gender bias compared to other biases?

  Gender bias is not taken as seriously
• What is a strength regarding Gender Bias?

  Gender Differences in the Brain

  • Research by Ingalhalikar et al (2014) suggests that the popular social stereotype that women are better at multitasking might have some biological truth to it
  • A woman’s brain may benefit from better connections between the right and left hemisphere than in a man’s brain
  • This suggests that there may be biological differences but we still should be wary of exaggerating the effect they may have on behaviour
• What is a limitation for Gender Bias?

  Biological vs Social Explanations

  • Maccoby & Jacklin (1974) concluded that girls have superior verbal ability, whereas boys have better spatial ability, and suggested that this is hardwired into the brain before birth
  • However, Joel et al (2015) used brain scanning and found no such sex differences, and it’s possible that Maccoby & Jacklin’s findings were popularised because it fitted existed stereotypes
  • This suggests that we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they may be explained better as social stereotypes
• What is a limitation for Gender Bias?

  Sexism in Research

  • Women remain underrepresented in university departments, especially in science
  • Murphy et al (2014) found that despite mainly women taking an undergraduate in psychology, the lecturers tend to be men, which means research is more likely to be conducted by men, which may disadvantage participants who are women
  • This means that the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender-biased
• What is a limitation for Gender Bias?

  Gender-Biased Research

  • Formanowicz et al (2018) analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias, and found that research on gender bias is published by less prestigious journals, in which the consequence is that fewer scholars are aware of it
  • Researchers argued that this still held true when gender bias was compared with other forms of bias, and when other factors were controlled, such as the gender of the author and methodology used
  • This suggests that gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias