gender bias Flashcards
what is gender bias
the differential treatment/representation of men/women based on stereotypes rather than real differences
what is alpha bias
when differences between men and women are exaggerated when shown, either to heighten value of women or more often to devalue them
how did freud show alpha bias in phallic stage
women had a lesser reason than men to identify with their same sex parents (more threatening fear than anger over castration), men = strong identification women = weak identification
what is beta bias
differences between 2 sexes are minimised/ignored, often when females aren’t included in a study and it is then generalised to them equally
how had women evolved with the fight or flight response
women evolved to inhibit the response, rather than fight or flight like men, instead focusing on caring for offspring/forming defensive networks with other females
how did milgram show beta bias
in milgram’s study, 65% of men continued to the end
in sheridan & king (puppies), 100% of women continued but only 54% of men
what is androcentrism
male centred, judged according to a male standard, women look ‘abnormal’
2 +eval for gender bias?
hemispheric differences research
legal rights and accessibility
how is hemispheric research a positive eval for gender bias
Ingalhalikar found women’s 2 hemispheres to communicate more frequently than men’s - possibly explaining the stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men
how is legal equality a positive eval for gender bias
equal legal treatment and accessibility, such as education and employment, social development and moves towards equality
what’re 2 negative evals for gender bias
research quantity issues
sexism in research
how is research quantity a neg eval for gender bias
research into gender bias may not be published. Formanowicz analysed >1000 articles relating to gender and found gender bias is funded less often and published by less prestigious journals.
fewer scholars become aware/apply it in their work, argued still true compared to other biases such as ethnic, suggests gender bias may not be taken as seriously as others/as it should be
how is sexism in research a neg eval for gender bias
women are underrepresented in uni, particularly sciences and psych lecturers are more likely to be men. this means research is more likely to be conducted by men and may disadvantage female participants eg stereotypical expectations of irrationality and likely that women are biased against to underperform in tasks, making institutions’ methods likely to produce gender biased findings
