Gender bias

• Gender bias definition

  bias = tendency to treat one individual or group differently from others.

  gender bias -> psychological research or theory may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or women
• androcentrism definition

  • male-centred
  • 'normal' behaviour is judged according to a male standard
  • female behaviour - abnormal or deficient
• alpha bias definition

  research that focuses on differences between men and women - tends to present a view that exaggerates these differences
• beta bias definition

  research that focuses on similarities between men and women and therefore tends to present a view that ignore or minimises differences
• universality and bias

  • bias in the research process may be inevitable
  • bias undermines psychology's claims to universalitiy
  • univerality - that conclusions drawn can be applies to everyone, anywhere regardless of time or culture
• alpha bias example

  Freud theory of psychosexual development

  • during phallic stage = boys and girls develop desire for their opposite-gender parent
  • boys develop strong castration anxiety -> identifies strongly with father
  • girls identify weakly with same-gender parent - so superego is weaker
  • girls are morally inferior to boys

  Biological similarities

  • chodorow - daughters and mothers have a greater connectedness than sons because of biological similarities
  • women develop better abilities to bond and emphasise with others
• 2 alpha bias examples:

  • Freud
  • biological similarities
• beta bias example

  Fight or flight response

  • biological research has generally favoured using male animals because female behaviour is affected by regular hormonal changes
  • assumed that both males and females respond to threatening situations with fight or flight
  • Taylor - tend and befriend response - the love hormone oxytocin is more plentiful in women and increases production when women are stressed
  • reduces fight of flight and enhances tend and befriend
  • misrepresents womens
• androcentrism

  • consequence of alpha and beta bias
  • American psychology association published a list of the 100 most influential psychologist which only included 6 women
  • psychology produced for men about men
  • women's behaviour misunderstood / pathologised
  • premenstrual syndrome - medicalises women's emotions such as anger by explaining these in hormonal terms
  • men's anger - rational response to external pressures
• Gender bias AO3 - limitation

  P: gender differences are presented as fixed and enduring

  E: Maccoby and Jacklin = differences are hardwired into brain before birth

  Joel = brain scans showed no such sex differences in brain structure

  E: Maccoby and Jacklin research was popularised because it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as speakers and boys as doers

  L: We should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be explained better as social stereotypes
• Gender bias AO3 - limitation

  P: gender bias promotes sexism in the research process

  E: women underrepresented in university departments as lectures in psychology departments are more likely to be men

  E: this means research is more likely to be conducted by men and this disadvantages women ppts as men may have a negative expectations of women and so they underperform in research studies

  L: this means that the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce gender-biased findings
• Gender bias AO3 - limitation

  P: research challenging gender biases may not be published

  E: Formanowicz - analysed 1000 article relating to gender bias published over 8 years - research on gender bias funded less often and is published by less prestigious journals

  E: this means fewers scholars can apply it within their own work

  L: gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously