Gender And Culture In Psychology: Gender Bias Flashcards
What does it mean if beliefs are biased?
They lean towards a subjective view that doesn’t necessarily reflect objective reality.
What may bias be in research?
Inevitable despite claims about discovering ‘facts’ that are ‘objective’ and ‘value-free.’
What what might bias do?
Undermine psychology’s claim to universality?
What does universality mean?
Conclusions can be applied to everyone, anywhere, regardless of time or culture.
What are the two forms of gender bias?
- Alpha bias.
- Beta bias.
What is alpha-bias research?
Research that exaggerates differences - often presented as fixed/ inevitable.
What do exaggerated differences mainly do?
Devalue women in relation to men.
What is an example of alpha bias?
Freud’s theory of psychosexual development:
- phallic stage both genders desire for their opposite gender parent.
- Boys = castration anxiety which is resolved when identifying with his father.
- Girls identification with her same gendered parent = weaker which means her superego = weaker.
- Girls are inferior to boys.
What is an example of alpha bias favouring women?
- Psychodynamic approach.
- Chodrow suggested daughters and mothers have greater connectedness because of biological similarities.
- As a result of child’s closeness women develop better abilities to bond with others and empathise.
What is beta bias?
Research that ignores/ underestimates differences.
How does beta bias occur?
When we assume research findings apply equally to men and women.
What is an example of beta bias?
- Fight or flight response.
- Assumed men and women responded to threatening situations in the same way (using flight or fight).
- Recently Taylor et al described tend and befriend.
- Love hormone ‘oxytocin’ is more plentiful in women and it seems that women respond to stress by increasing oxytocin production.
- Reduces fight or flight and enhances a preference for tend and befriend.
What is an example of research that has misrepresented men?
Attachment which assumes emotional care is provided solely by mothers however research on the role of the father shows fathers can supply the emotional care assumed to be the province of women.
What are alpha and beta bias a consequence of?
Androcentrism.
What is an example of how psychology has been male dominated?
The American psychological association published a list of the 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century and only 6 were women - suggests psychology is a subject produced by men, for men and about men (androcentric perspective).
What has happened to women behaviour if it was considered?
It has been misunderstood or at worse pathologised (taken as a sign of illness).
What do feminists object?
The diagnostic category of premenstrual syndrome e.g. on the grounds that it medicalises women’s emotions such as anger by explaining these in hormonal terms.
Whereas mens anger is seen as a rational response to external pressures.
Evaluation: gender differences are often presented as fixed/ enduring when they aren’t.
Maccoby and Jacklin presented findings of several gender studies which concluded girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability. Suggested these findings are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth. These findings were taken as facts however Joel et al used brain scanning and found no difference in brain structure/ processing. This suggests data from MAccoby and Jacklin was popularised because it fit gender stereotypes that women are ‘speakers’ and men are ‘doers’.
Evaluation: gender bias promotes sexism in the research process.
Women remain underrepresented in university departments particularly science. Although psychology undergraduate intake is mainly women, lecturers in psychology departments are more likely to be men which means research is more likely to be conducted by men and this may disadvantage participants who are women. This means institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender-biased.
Evaluation: research challenging biases may not e published.
Formanowicz et al analysed more than 1000 articles related to gender bias which were published over 8 years. They found research on gender bias is funded less and is published by less prestigious journals. This means fewer scholars are aware of this and will apply it in their own work. This suggests gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
Evaluation: there may be biological differences between men and women.
Ingalhalikar et al suggested the popular social stereotype that women are better at multitasking may have some biological truth to it. Appears that women’s brains may benefit from better connections between the right and left hemisphere than in a mans brain. This suggests there may be biological differences.
