Gender Bias Flashcards
What is universality in psychology?
Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences in upbringing. It is the main aim of psychology.
What is androcentrism?
Where research is focused on males only and ‘normal’ behaviour is judged to a male standard.
How can androcentrism impact understanding of female behaviour?
It makes us believe that female behaviour is abnormal.
Explain androcentrism using the example from Asch.
Asch’s conformity studies used males only and assumed that conformity is the same in females.
Explain what Eagly and Carli found about conformity of in women.
They found that women conform the men, so findings from Asch’s study do not apply to everyone.
What is alpha bias?
Exaggerates differences between men and women. This devalues one gender.
Explain how Freud’s theory demonstrates alpha bias.
Freud suggests that women are failed versions of men as they experience ‘penis envy’
Girls do not fear of castration and therefore develop a weaker superego as a result.
He explained that female vanity is a defence mechanism to mask their sexual inferiority.
What is beta bias?
Minimises differences between men and women.
How does the fight or flight response demonstrate beta bias?
How do women behave in fight or flight?
The fight or flight response assumes that all people will either fight or run in stressful situations.
However, research has found that women are likely to befriend other women in stressful situations and protect their offspring.
Explain the limitation that it can be hard to tell whether gender differences are fact or stereotype.
Did girls or boys have better verbal ability?
Did girls or boys have better spatial ability?
Explain the stereotype behind these findings.
In contrast, what have brain scans shown that women have that makes them better at multitasking?
Maccoby and Jacklin concluded that girls have better verbal ability and boys have better spatial ability and these abilities are hardwired into the brain from birth. These findings are reported as fact, but may be widely believed due to the stereotype that girls are better at English and boys are better at maths/science. However, stereotypes should not mean that psychologists should avoid studying them. For example, brain scans have shown that females have stronger connections between their left and right hemisphere, making them biologically better at multitasking. Therefore, we should be wary that some stereotypes can be accurate.
Explain the limitation of gender bias promoting sexism.
Explain how there fewer numbers of female psychology professors could lead to biased research.
How could a male researcher impact female performance in studies?
Women remain underrepresented in university psychology departments, where most professors are men. This means that research conducted in universities is likely to be conducted by males and this could disadvantage female PPTs. For example, a male researcher may expect females to be irrational and unable to perform complex tasks and such expectations might actually lead to female PPTs underperforming. This means that the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce biased findings.
Explain the limitation of research challenging gender bias being published less than other forms of research.
In a meta analysis of over 1000 studies, what was found about how likely it is for research on gender bias to be published/funded?
If research is published less, how can this affect other researchers understanding of bias in their own studies?
Which form of bias is taken more seriously than gender and how do we know this?
A researcher analysed more than 1000 studies relating to gender bias published over 8 years. She found that research on gender bias is funded less and is published less by prestigious journals. This means that scholars are less likely to be aware of bias within their studies. Researchers argued that this held true when gender bias was compared to other forms of bias, such as ethnic bias, and when other factors were controlled, such as the gender of the authors. This suggests that gender bias is not taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
Explain the strength and limitation of there being positive and negative aspects to gender bias.
Tavris has said that it has become normal for women to feel..
What is the name of the term that describes a psychologists ability to recognise bias in their own work?
Instead of seeing bias as an issue, what do researchers do instead?
Use the example of a study on a lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms.
Bias has risk of creating misleading stereotypes about females and may validate discriminatory claims. Tavris said that it has become normal for women to feel abnormal, which can lead to damage in real lives of women. However, modern researchers are now able to recognize the effects of their own beliefs have on their work (reflexivity). Rather than seeing bias as a problem, they embrace it instead as a crucial part of the research process. For example, the study of a lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms was reflected on by researchers to understand how gender related experiences influenced interpretation of events
