gender bias Flashcards
what is gender bias?
psychological research or theory may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of mean or woman (usually women)
what is androcentrism?
male-centred, when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard
what is alpha bias?
research that focuses on differences between men and women, and therefore tends to present a view that exaggerates these differences
what is beta bias?
research that focuses on similarities between men and women, and therefore tends to present a view that ignores or minimises differences
what is an example of alpha bias?
Freuds theory of psychosexual development, a girls eventual identification with her same-sex gender parent is weaker than boys, which means her superego is weaker. therefore girls/women are morally inferior to boys/men
what is an example of beta bias?
research on the fight or flight response, biological research has generally favoured using male animals because female behaviour is affected by regular hormone changes due to overulation
what is the biological vs social explanations limitation?
gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring when they are not,
Maccoby and Jacklin: findings of several gender studies which concluded that girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability, they said these differences are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth,
this suggests that we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be explained better as social stereotypes
what is the counterpoint strength to bio vs social exp?
this does not mean that psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in the brain,
Ingalhalikar et al: research suggests that possible social stereotype that women are better at multitasking may have some biological truth to it, it seems a woman’s brain may benefit from better connections between the right and the left hemisphere than in a man’s brain,
this suggest that there may be biological differences but we should be wary of exaggerating the effect they may have on behaviour
what is the sexism in research limitation?
gender bias promotes sexism in the research process,
women remain underrepresented in uni departments patricianly in science, research is more likely to be conducted by men and this may disadvantage participants who are women (psychology professors more likely to be men)
for e.g. (Nicolson) a male researcher may expect women to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks and such expectations are likely to mean that women underperform in research studies,
this means that the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender-biased
what is the gender-biased research limitation?
research challenging gender biases may not be published,
Formanowicz et al: analyse more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias, found that research on gender bias is funded less often and is published by less prestigious journals,
the consequence of this is that fewer scholars become aware of it or apply it within their own work, the researchers argued that this till held true when gender bias was compared to other forms of bias,
this suggests that gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias
