Gender bias

• Gender bias


  -The differential treatment of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences (can result from alpha/beta bias).
• Universality 


  -Where a theory or behaviour is thought to apply to all people/cultures in the same way.
• Androcentrism 


  -Refers to male-centred or male-bias view of the world. Where male behaviour and masculine traits are judged to be the norm and therefore females behaviour is judged as abnormal and less desirable.
• Gynocentrism 


  -taking female behaviour as normal and regarding male behaviour as inferior or abnormal. Gynocentric samples are when the PP within the study are biased towards women.
• Alpha bias


  -The tendency to exaggerate gender differences. Overemphasising these differences could result in devaluing one gender over another, leading to stereotyping and discrimination.
• Beta bias 


  -Refers to theories that ignore or minimise sex differences. These theories often assume that findings from studies using males can apply equally to females.

  -This often happens when findings obtained from men are applied to women without consideration that women are different.
• Example of alpha bias


  -Freud argues that during the phallic stage of psychosexual development boys and girls must resolve the Oedipus and Electra complex. This is done by identifying and internalising the moral values of same sex parents.

  -Boys identify with their fathers more and girls identify more with their mothers. This can result in girls forming a weaker super ego and weaker sense of morality.

  -This is a form of alpha bias as it exaggerates the differences between between moral development of males and females when such differences do not exist.
• Evolutionary explanation for partner preferences

  -Males and females have evolved differences in what they find attractive in their partners. - males have evolved to find youth and fertility attractive and females have evolved to find men who provide resources attractive. -It exaggerates differences in partner preferences and in biology.
• Examples of beta-bias

  -Research into stress has traditionally been conducted using male animals, as these have less variations in hormones than females. -findings indicated these male animals respond to stress via the ‘flight or fight’ response. -Later research challenged this view by providing evidence that females produce a tend to befriend response as a result of increased levels of the hormone oxytocin. -Shows real differences are ignored.
• Consequence of beta bias

  -is that we end up with a view of human nature that is supposed to apply to men and women alike but has a male bias. -e.g. Asch’s, Milgram and Zimbardo’s studies involved all male PP. It was thought that these findings would apply equally to female behaviour which results in androcentrism.