gender bias

• P: one strategy to counter gender bias is to develop theories which show the differences between men and women but that emphasise the value of women

  E: this can be seen in feminist research which shows instances where women are better. research shows that women are better at learning because they are more attentive, flexible and organised

  L: such research challenges the stereotype that in any gender differences the male position must be better, and changes peoples preconceptions
• P: equal treatment for men and women has given women greater opportunities, but this may be a disadvantage

  E: Mustin and Marecek point out that arguing for equality between men and women draws attention away from women's special needs and from differences in power between men and women. in a society where one group holds most of the power, neutral actions end up benefiting the group with the power.

  L: this suggests that we should avoid beta bias in order to ensure that significant differences are taken account of
• P: one criticism of psychological theories and studies is that they are gender biased because the methods used are biased

  E: Rosenthal found that male experimenters are more pleasant, friendly and encouraging to female participants than to male participants. the result was that the male participants appeared to perform less well on the tasks assigned. feminists argue that lab experiments disadvantage women because findings created in the controlled world of the lab tells us little about the experiences of women outside these settings.
• link for rosenthal

  L: these criticisms suggest that there are serious issues with the way data is collected, which creates a false picture of male-female differences