GENDER BIAS

Question 1

what is universality?

Answer 1

• influenced by social and historical context within which they live
• this may undermine psychologists’ claims to discover facts about human behaviour that are objective, value-free, and consistent over time and culture

Question 2

what is gender bias?

Answer 2

when psychological theories and research may not accurately represent the experience and behaviour of men and women

Question 3

what is alpha bias?

Answer 3

exaggerates the differences between men and women, they occasionally heighten the value of women but are more likely to devalue females in relation to males

Question 4

what is an example of alpha bias?

Answer 4

favouring males - freud (1905) claimed children in the phallic stage, desire opposite-sex parent. this is resolved by identification with their same sex parent. but a girl’s identification is weaker, creating a weaker superego and weaker moral development
favouring females - chodorow said daughters and mothers are more connected than sons and mothers because of biological similarities - so women develop better bonds and empathy for others

Question 5

what is beta bias?

Answer 5

minimises differences between men and women, e.g, no female ppt but findings are generalised to them

Question 6

what is an example of beta bias?

Answer 6

fight or flight was based on male (because female hormones fluctuate). fight or flight was assumed to be a universal response to threat
- taylor et al suggests that women exhibit a tend and befriend response from the hormone oxytocin which is more plentiful in women (small in men) and reduces the fight or flight response. an evolved response for caring for young.

Question 7

define androcentrism

Answer 7

male centred, normal behaviour is judged according to male standard.
female behaviour is misunderstood and even taken as a sign of illness

Question 8

give an example of androcentrism

Answer 8

BRESCOLL & UHLMANN - feminists object to the category of PMS because it medicalises female emotions (e.g, anger) by explaining these in hormonal terms. but male anger is often seen as a rational response to external pressures

Question 9

four evaluation points for gender bias

Answer 9

+ reflexivity [ dambrin and lambert ]
+ institutional sexism [ denmark et al ]
- misleading assumptions abt female
- essentialism [ walkerdine]

Question 10

what is one strength of gender bias?

Answer 10

researchers are starting to recognise the effect of their own values and assumptions on their work

Question 11

what do researchers see bias as?

Answer 11

a crucial and critical aspect of research process

Question 12

what did dambrin and lampart do?

Answer 12

studied lack of women in exec positions, and included reflection of how gender-related exp influenced their reading of events

Question 13

reflexivity is seen as an…

Answer 13

important development in psych, leads to greater awareness of role of personal biases increasing internal validity of gender bias

Question 14

what does gender bias create misleading assumptions about?

Answer 14

misleading assumptions about female behaviour and fails to challenge negative stereotypes

Question 15

gender bias creates misleading assumptions by providing…

Answer 15

scientific justification to deny women opportunity

Question 16

how are women denied opportunity due to gender bias?

Answer 16

in workplace and in wider society, men set the boundaries of normality

Question 17

gender bias is not just a methodological problem but has…

Answer 17

damaging consequences which affect the lives and prospects of real women e.g. 2x +likely to have depression

Question 18

the _______ _______ is decreased as it has implication for the real world

Answer 18

external validity

Question 19

another strength of gender bias is that there is ___________ ______ in theory and research

Answer 19

institutional sexism

Question 20

gender biased research about women is carried out by…

Answer 20

male researchers, which is not a true reflection of female concerns due to lack of women appointed in senior research level

Question 21

male researchers are…

Answer 21

more likely to have work published and studies that find evidence of gender differences more likely to appear in articles

Question 22

give an example of how male researchers dominate over female ppts

Answer 22

lab experiment is seen as scientific foundation of psychology disadvantages women as they are inequitable to male researchers, women are labelled as unreasonable

Question 23

denmark et al found that…

Answer 23

psych is guilty of supporting form of institutional sexism creating bias in theory and research

Question 24

the _______ _______ of _____ ____ is ____________ due to institutional sexism

Answer 24

internal validity of alpha bias is increased

Question 25

another weakness of gender bias is that gender differences are reported based on an ___________ perspective

Answer 25

essentialist

Question 26

what is an essentialist perspective?

Answer 26

that the gender difference in question is inevitable (essential) and is fixed in nature

Question 27

the _______ ________ of gender bias is decrease by the essentialist perspective

Answer 27

internal validity