1. gender bias Flashcards
what does bias mean
psychologists posses beliefs and values that have been influenced by the social and historical context in which they live.
therefore being bias has just been inevitable despite psychologists saying they are objective and value free.
what is alpha bias
exaggerates or overestimates differences between sexes - perceived as fixed and inevitable.
these differences are more likely to devalue families in relation to their male counterparts - either to heighten the value or devalue women.
what is an example of alpha bias
freud theory of psychosexual development - believed that femininity was failed masculinity and that we can never believe that the two sexes are equal in position of worth.
he said that woman roles were prescribed and predetermined which had serious consequences as this reinforced stereotypes (woman moral inferiority). the theories are androcentric (penis envy) as women are defined by the fact that they are not men.
however - horney stated it was wrong to think females were envious of men attributes but they were jealous of their social class. she coined the term ‘womb envy’ which is where males were envious of female abilities to have children and compensated for that in other domains.
what is beta bias
ignores and minimises or underestimates differences between men and women.
often occurs when female participants are not included as part of the research process and then it is assumed that research findings equally apply to both sexes - assumes all people are the same and so it is reasonable to apply theories and research to both men and women.
what is an example of beta bias
fight or flight response - biological research has favored using male animals because female behavior is affected by regular hormonal changes due to ovulation (ignores any possible differences). early research into fight or flight did this and assumed both males and females respond to threatening situations with fight or flight.
however - more recent research has shown this is not true and research described a ‘tend and befriend’ response for females. they will nurture themselves and others which is possibly due to women having more of the hormone oxytocin. women do show behavioral and neurological signs of becoming more empathetic in response to stress. however men are more likely to socially withdraw in times of stress become aggressive or turn to alcohol to numb their feelings.
what is androcentrism
consequence of alpha bias or beta bias - it is when our understanding of what counts as being normal behavior is drawn from research that involves all male samples and any behavior that deviates from this standard is likely to be judged as abnormal by comparison.
leads to female behavior being misunderstood or even worse pathologised - meaning it is taken as a sign of psychological instability or disorder.
for example feminists have objected to the diagnostic category of premenstrual syndrome on the grounds that it medicalises womens emotions such as anger by explaining these in hormonal terms. in contrast when men get angry it is often seen as a rational response to external pressures.
what is an example of gender bias in research
kohlberg based his stages of moral development around male moral reasoning with an all male sample. he then generalised his findings to women (beta bias) and also claimed women generally reached lower level of moral development (andocentrism).
another researcher highlighted the gender bias inherent in kolhberg work and suggested women make moral decisions in a different way to men. however her research is arguably also (alpha) bias as male and female moral reasoning is more similar than her work suggests.
what is a limitation about gender bias in the research process
institutional sexism is when men are predominate at senior research level and research agenda follows male concerns while female concerns may be marginalised or ignored.
dissemination of research results is publishing bias towards positive results - research has found that gender differences are more likely to get published than that which does not and exaggerates extent of gender differences.
what is a limitation about sexism in research
gender bias promotes sexism in the research process as women remain underrepresented in university departments particularly in science.
although psychology undergraduate intake is mainly women, lecturers in psychology departments are more likely to be men. this means research is more likely to be conducted by men and this may disadvantage participants who are women (male researchers may expect women to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks).
these expectations mean women underperform in research studies which means the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender biased.
what is a strength about avoiding gender bias
primary meaning of gender in psychology has been different. the exaggeration of differences (alpha bias) can be seen in approaches that focus on the contrasting experiences of men and women.
the minimizing of differences (beta bias) can be seen in approaches that stress the similarity or equality of men and women.
what is a limitation about biological verses social explanations
gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring (alpha bias). research concluded girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability = differences are hardwired into the brain before birth. also brain scanning - found no such sex differences in brain structure or processing. data was popularised as it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as speakers and boys as doers = we should be wary of accepting findings as biological facts when they might be explained better as social stereotypes.
counter - does not mean psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in brain. the popular social stereotype that women are better at multitasking may have some biological truth - women brain may have better connections between right and left hemisphere than men = biological differences but we should be wary of exaggerating the effect we have on behaviour.
what is a limitation about gender biased reaserch not being published
research analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias published over 8 years. found research on gender bias was funded less often and published by less prestigious journals. led to consequences - fewer scholars were aware of gender bias to apply within their own work.
argued that this still held truth when gender bias was compared with other forms of bias such as ethnic bias and when other factors were controlled such as the gender of authors and the methodology used = gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
what is a limitation about the use of standardised procedures in research
women and men might respond differently to research and could be treated differently by researchers = may create artificial differences or mask real ones.
what is a strength about reverse alpha bias
girls perform better than boys on reading tests and boys score better on maths and science tests. boys who perform equally as well as girls on reading and maths and science tests are graded less favourably by their teachers. however this less favourable treatment essentially vanishes when non cognitive skills (motivation and perseverance) are taken into account.
