Gender Bias

• Gender Bias


  - a difference in treatment on the basis of gender

  
  

  - in psychological research, research that doesn't justifiably represent the experience or behaviour of men or women (often women)
• Universality


  - conclusions drawn from research can be applied to everyone regardless of time, gender or culture

  
  

  - gender bias and culture bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology
• Alpha Bias


  - the tendency to exaggerate differences between the sexes, suggesting there are real and enduring differences between the 2 sexes

  
  

  - tends to devalue one gender in favour of the other (often women) leading to one being judged by the others standards

  
  

  - e.g. Freud's theory of psychosexual development:

  
  

  . same-sex identification leads to the formation of the superego (morality principle)

  
  

  . a girl's identification with her same-sex parent is weaker than a boys resulting in a weaker superego

  
  

  . girls/women are morally inferior to boys/men
• Beta Bias


  - when differences between the 2 sexes are ignored or minimised and the generalised to the opposite sex

  
  

  - e.g. studies on the fight or flight response:

  
  

  . research focuses on male animals due to 'hormonal changes' during ovulation in females, ignoring potential differences and assuming both sexes react the same way

  
  

  . Taylor et al (2000) proposed the 'tend and befriend' response, with women producing oxytocin in stressful situations resulting in the evolved response of looking after others
• Androcentrism


  - male centred; when 'normal behaviour' is judged using male standards

  
  

  - in a research context a study that only has male participants but is generalised to women

  
  

  - often leads to female behaviour being interpreted as abnormal or deficient by comparison
• Gynocentricism


  - a form of beta bias

  
  

  - a study conducted on only women but is generalised to men as well

  
  

  - women's behaviour is seen as the norm and any other behaviour is seen as 'deviant' or 'abnormal
• Reverse Alpha Bias

  - the development of research that turns its focus onto women

  
  

  - e.g. Cornwell et al (2013) showed that women are better at learning things because they are more attentive, flexible, and organised
• Feminist Psychology

  - a psychological approach based upon feminist principles re-examining the facts about gender

  
  

  - approach views women as normal people rather than deficient men

  
  

  - focuses on the female perspective critiquing the androcentric bias and biologically deterministic nature of most psychological research
• Avoiding Beta Bias

  - beta bias can sometimes take attention away from the nuances of women's needs

  
  

  - e.g. advocation for equal parenting due to attachment research ignores the biological demands of pregnancy and childbirth
• Bias in Research Methods

  - the methods used to test or observe the genders may be biased, so males and females may appear to be more different than they actually are (alpha bias).
• Biological vs Social Explanations: Limitation

  - social stereotypes can sometimes become conflated with biological facts i.e alpha bias

  
  

  - Maccoby & Jacklin (1974) presented findings stating girls had superior verbal ability whilst boys had better spatial skills

  
  

  - these differences were suggested to be physiological (hardwired before birth) and became widely accepted

  
  

  - Joel et al (2015) used brain scanning and found no evidence for this being the case, people simply accepting the results due to pre-existing stereotypes of girls as 'speakers' and boys as 'doers'
• Sexism in Research: Limitation

  - gender bias can promote sexism in the research method

  
  

  - women are under represented in university departments with most lecturers (and therefore researchers) being men

  
  

  - this may put female participants at a disadvantage e.g. expecting female participants to be unable to complete complex tasks (Nicholson, 1995)

  
  

  - these expectations mean that women underperform in research studies

  
  

  - the over saturation of men in psychological research may produce findings that are gender biased
• Biological vs Social Explanations: Counterpoint

  - Ingalhalikar et al (2014) found potential evidence for the stereotype that women are better at multi-tasking than men

  
  

  - women's brains had better connections between the right and left hemisphere than men

  
  

  - there may be evidence for biological differences however researchers should be careful not to exaggerate them
• Gender-Biased Research: Limitation

  - research challenging gender bias may not be published

  
  

  - Formanowiscz et al (2018) analysed over 1000 articles related to gender bias over 8 years and found that research on gender bias is funded and published less by prestigious journals

  
  

  - this results in fewer scholars becoming aware of it or applying it in their work

  
  

  - this remained true when compared to other forms of bias such as ethnic bias even when methodology and gender of author was controlled

  
  

  - suggests gender bias is not taken as seriously as other forms of bias
• Understanding Bias: Limitation

  - gender bias can create misleading assumption about female behaviour

  
  

  - in any domain where men set the standard of normalcy it 'becomes normal for women to feel abnormal' (Carol Tavis, 1993)

  
  

  - this not only a methodological problem but also affects the prospects and lives of real women
• Understanding Bias: Counterpoint

  - many modern researchers recognise the effect of their values and assumptions on their research (reflexivity)

  
  

  - rather than viewing bias as a problem that threatens the objectivity of their work they embrace it as part of the research process

  
  

  - (Dambrin & Lambert, 2008) include a reflection on how their gendered experiences influence their interpretation of events in their study of the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms