Gender Bias

Question 1

what is Androcentrism?

Answer 1

Theories centred on / focused on males

Question 2

what is Gynocentrism?

Answer 2

Theories centred on / focused on females

Question 3

what is Alpha Bias?

Answer 3

theories that exaggerate the differences between men and women

Question 4

what is Beta Bias?

Answer 4

theories which ignore sex differences - these theories often assume that findings can apply equally to males and females

Question 5

examples of Alpha Bias

Answer 5

• Freud arguing that women are inferior due to young girls suffering from ‘penis envy’ & femininity being a failed form of masculinity
• Ford & Widiger finding that women are more likely to be diagnosed with emotional disorders whereas men are more likely to have antisocial disorders

Question 6

examples of Beta Bias

Answer 6

Taylor found women have the ‘Fend and Befriend’ response instead of the ‘Fight or Flight’ as the experiments for this theories were mostly done on males animals

Question 7

what are the consequences of Alpha Bias?

Answer 7

• reinforcing of gender stereotypes, discrimination and sexism
• emotional, mental and social inferiority

Question 8

what are the consequences of Beta Bias?

Answer 8

anything that deviates from the way males and females are assumed to behave is considered ‘abnormal / deviant’

Question 9

weaknesses of Gender Bias

Answer 9

Negative implications
- gender bias research may provide scientific ‘justification’ to deny women opportunities within wider society

Can underplay real psychological and physiological differences in men and women
- in a review Macoby and Jackelin concluded women have superior verbal ability whereas men were better at spatial tasks

Question 10

strength of Gender Bias

Answer 10

has led to the creation of Feminist psychology
- aims to challenge androcentric generalisation and the pathologization of female behaviour (restoring imbalance in theories and research)