gender bias

• Main views 


  Alpha Bias- exaggerating differences between both genders ef frueds theory

  Beta bias- Minimising differences between men and women eg fight or flight,

  Androcentrism- research that is only done on men but is generalised everywhere else- eg Milgram , Zimbardo and Ash
• A03 points 


  implications of gender bias

  sexism within research

  feminist approach

  reflexivity
• Implications in gender bias 


  may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereotypes. It may provide a scientific Justification to deny women opportunities within the workplace or in wider society .

  In any domain in which men set the standard of normalcy, Tavris 'it becomes normal for women to feel abnormal.

  gender bias in research may have damaging consequences which affect the lives and prospects of real women (for instance, the statistic that females are around twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men).
• sexism in research process


  female concerns may not be reflected in the research questions asked. Male researchers are more likely to have their work published and studied. laboratory experiment may further disadvantage women. Female participants are placed in an inequitable relationship with a (usually male) researcher who has the power to label them unreasonable, irrational and unable to complete complex tasks

  This means that psychology may be guilty of supporting a form of institutional sexism that creates bias in theory and research
• Reflectivity 


  researchers are beginning to recognise the effect their own values have on the nature of their work. Rather than seeing such bias as a problem that may threaten the objective status of their work, they embrace it as a crucial and critical aspect of the research process in general. in their study of the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms, Dambrin and Lambert include reflection on how their gender-related experiences influence their reading of events this may lead to greater awareness of the role of personal biases in shaping research in the future.
• Feminist psychology 


  Feminist commentators such as Worrell and Remer (have put forward a number of criteria that should be adhered to in order to avoid gender bias in research. Women should be studied within meaningful real-life contexts, and genuinely participate in research, rather than being the objects of study. Diversity within groups of women should be examined, rather than comparisons made between women and men. Finally, there should be greater emphasis placed on collaborative research methods that collect qualitative, as opposed to numerical, data.