-a belief that men’s behaviour is the norm and therefore women’s behaviour is seen as abnormal as deviates from this position. -This can be in history of mental health where many women were misdiagnosed with ‘hysteria’.
Gender bias can occur due to publication bias
-Journals have the tendency to publish research which finds a significant differences that research which doesn’t. -Therefore studies which find significant gender differences are more likely to result in publication, which contributes to gender bias and exaggeration of differences between male and female behaviour.
Real world implications
-Research with gender bias may used to create or reinforcing prejudice and stereotypes.
-Freuds theory of moral development resulted in the view that females were morally underdeveloped compared to men. -This false stereotype could have prevented the advancement of women’s right or women’s working professions involving moral reasoning.
Ways of avoiding gender bias
-inclusion of female PP, not extrapolating findings from one gender to another. -Adopting a reflexive approach. This involves Constantly reflecting on one’s own potential bias and stereotypes of punctuation of findings.
