A01

• Gender bias = The differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real difference.
• Alpha Bias = A tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women, suggesting that there are real and enduring differences between the two sexes. The consequences are that theories devalue one gender in comparison to the other, but typically devalue women.
• E.g. of alpha bias = Psychodynamic explanations for offending behaviour suggests that criminality occurs due to a deviant superego. According to Freud, since females do not experience castration anxiety, they are under less pressure and have less of a need to identify with the moral standards of their same-sex parent, as compared to boys. This suggests that females, in line with the psychodynamic approach, are less moral than males - an idea which has been refuted by Hoffman et al.
• E.g. of alpha bias = Wilson’s sociobiological theory of relationship formation suggests that sexual promiscuity in males is genetically determined, whereas promiscuous females are going against their ‘nature’. Females, from an evolutionary standpoint, need to be more selective when choosing their mates, due to having a limited supply of eggs and requiring more energy and effort to reproduce, compared to men. Therefore, such alpha bias may lead to prejudice and stereotyping of women who engage in these behaviours.
• E.g. of apha bias = Historically, since the 1980s, schizophrenia has been diagnosed more frequently in men compared to women, whereas before this time there had been no significant differences. This is an example of alpha bias, according to Cotton et al, because women are more likely to be able to continue working, maintain good interpersonal relationships and show less distress than men. This means that the schizophrenic symptoms of women may be masked or not severe enough to merit a diagnosis.
• Androcentrism = The consequence of beta bias and occurs when all behaviour is compared according to a ‘male’ standard, often to the neglect or exclusion of women.
• E.g. of androcentrism = PMS has been criticised by some as being a social construction, which trivialises female emotion, particularly anger. On the other hand, male anger is seen as a logical response to external pressures (Brescoll and Uhlman).
• An example of beta bias is research on fight or flight, research is usually conducted with male animals as in females the variation in hormone levels would make research more difficult – it has been assumed that only male samples are needed as what is true for males is true for females, until Shelley Taylor 2000 challenged this, they provided evidence that females produce a tend and befriend respond at times of stress which is adaptive as it ensures the survival of the offspring. This beta bias meant that a real difference was ignored.
• Beta bias = A tendency to ignore or minimise differences between men and women. Such theories tend to ignore questions about the lives of women, or insights derived from studies of men will apply equally well to women
• E.g. of beta bias = Early research conducted into the fight or flight response exclusively used male lab mice because they experience fewer hormonal fluctuations and so changes in adrenaline, due to environmental stressors, could be more reliably measured. However, results from these studies were then generalised to females, ignoring differences between the two sexes (e.g. speed and extent of the fight or flight response).
• E.g. of beta bias = Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning theory was developed on the basis of studying groups of American males, who all answered questions based on moral dilemmas e.g. the Heinz dilemma. These results were then generalised to represent levels of moral reasoning for both men and women.
• Universality = The aim to develop theories that apply to all people, which may include real differences. This describes any underlying characteristic of human behaviour which can be applied to all individuals, regardless of their differences. Bias, lack of validity and issues with reliability reduce the universality of psychological findings.