gender bias Flashcards
what does bias mean?
suggest a Perons view is distorted in some way, and in pychology there is evidence that gender is presented in a biased way
what is the difference between real gender differences and cultural gender differences
there is a small number of real gender differences, confirmed through cross cultural studies.
who studies real gender diffrences and when?
Maccoby and Jacklin(1974)
what are the four real diffrences between boys and girls?
girls have greater verbal ability
boys have greater visual and spatial abilities
boys have greater arithmetical abilities, a difference that only appears at adolescence
girls are less aggressive than boys
what are the types of gender bias?
androcentinism, beta bias and alpha bias
what is androcentrism?
centred on, or dominated by males and can be conscious (the individual knows they are behaving this way) or unconscious.
how was androcentrism used in the past
most psychologists were male, and the theories they produced tended to represent a male view of the world
what is alpha bias?
theories which exaggerate the differences between males and females
give an examples of alpha bias?
in his psychoanalytic approach, Freud argued that because girls do not suffer the same oedipal conflict as boys, they do not identify with their mothers as strongly as boys identify with their fathers, so develop weaker superegos
how is the evoloutionary theory an example of alpha bias?
The evolutionary approach in psychology has also been criticised for its alpha bias. This is because this approach suggests that evolutionary processes in the development of the human species explain why men tend to be dominant, why women have a more parental investment in their offspring, and why men are more likely to commit adultery. However, society has changed considerably over recent years, and it is argued that the evolutionary perspective shouldn’t be used to justify gender differences.
what is beta bias?
theories have traditionally ignored or minimised sex differences. These theories often assume that the findings from males can apply equally to females.
give an example of beta bias?
Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development was based on extensive interviews that he conducted with boys aged 10-16. The same all male sample was then re-interviewed at intervals of 3-4 years over a 20- year period. His classification system is based on a morality of justice and some researchers, such as Carol Gilligan (1982), have found that women tend to be more focused on relationships when making moral decisions and therefore often appear to be at a lower level of moral reasoning when using Kohlberg’s system. Therefore Kohlberg’s approach meant that a real difference was ignored.
why does beta bias occur in most psychological research
Male and female participants are used in most studies, but there is normally no attempt to analyse the data to see whether there are significant sex differences. Where differences are found, it may be possible that these occur because researchers ignore the differential treatment of participants.
give an examples of beta bias occuring?
Rosenthal (1966) reported that male experimenters were more pleasant, friendly, honest, and encouraging with female than with male participants. This led Rosenthal to conclude: “Male and female subjects may, psychologically, simply not be in the same experiment at all.”
how does animal research have beta bias?
biological research into the fight-or-flight response has often been carried out with male animals because they have less variation in hormones than females. It was assumed that this would not be a problem as the fight-or-flight response would be the same for both. However, later stress research by Taylor et al. (2000) has challenged this view by providing evidence that females produce a tend-and-befriend response. The beta-bias in the earlier animal studies meant that for a long time the stress response was not fully understood and a real difference was ignored.
