gender bias

• Gender bias - differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences
• Androcentrism - a theory based on male behaviour but applied to females and therefore is biased.
• At best androcentrism leads to female behaviour being misunderstood and at worst, pathologised
• Feminist psychologists argue that the majority of psychological research has been conducted by males who have used their own experiences as a basis for understanding human behaviour.
• Alpha bias - theories that exaggerate gender differences. Differences may heighten the value of women, or may devalue females in relation to males.
• According to Freud, boys have a stronger sense of morality (superego) than girls because the conflict that is resolved by identifying with his father is greater for them but girls develop weak identities with their mother
• Beta bias - theories that ignore or minimise gender differences and assume that what is true for one gender is true for all human kind.
• Beta bias may occur when females not included as part of research process but assumed that research findings apply equally to both sexes
• Universality - any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing.
• One problem associated with alpha bias is that it upholds stereotypical assumptions.
• According to Wilson (1994) the reason why 95% of bank managers, company directors, judges and university professors are male rather than female is because men are more competitive and are more dominant.
• An issue associated with beta bias is that it creates problems with generalisability.
• Milgram's sample only included men so the conclusions ignore the possibility of differences between men and women in obedience. This could lead to inaccurate beliefs about women’s behaviour as we cannot confidently generalise the findings from male participants to other sexes.
• Another problem is the sexism within the research process. The way in which research is reported is also important.
• Bowlby’s work on maternal deprivation suggests women should stay at home with their children or risk problems in the child’s long term development.
• Maternal deprivation research might have been used to encourage new mothers not to return to work, thus increasing gender inequality in workplaces and society.
• The way in which the findings from research are used and applied can be influential with respect to gender bias.
• When considering articles for publication, editors of scientific journals prefer data that show differences between groups.
• A finding where a difference is not found is called a null-result and is usually not published. This means that research that reveals a difference between men and women is much more likely to be published than research that finds no difference.
• Publication bias can mean gender differences are exaggerated and so reinforce alpha bias, making it more difficult to challenge gender stereotypes that are a product of gender bias.
• Freud's theory shows gender bias because it suggests women are less moral than men, which reinforces the stereotype that women need men to progress in their moral development
• Freud is an example of alpha bias