Gender bias Flashcards
What is Gender Bias?
Gender bias is the distorted view that behaviours observed may be typical of behaviours for both men and women.
Alpha Bias
Alpha bias is when the differences between men and women are exaggerated which results in alpha based theories that devalue one gender in comparison to another.
Example of gender bias in a study
Take Milgram’s obedience study from the social influence chapter as an example. This involved only men in the study and found high levels of obedience among them with 62% of them going all the way up to 450 volt shocks.
Example of alpha Bias
A prime example of this Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory which portrayed women as significantly inferior to men. This is because his theories reflected the 19th century culture in which he lived when men are more powerful and more educated and thus regarded as more superior than women. His alpha-based theory of psychoanalysis viewed femininity as a failed masculinity and exaggerated the differences between men and women.
Androcentrism
Androcentrism refers to when theories or views are based exclusively from a male view-point.
Beta bias
People may assume that what is true for men will also be true for women and thus minimise the differences between the two genders. The result of beta bias is usually that the needs of one gender (most often women) are ignored.
example of beta bias
One good example of this is research into the fight-or-flight response which we covered in the biopsychology chapter. Biological research has often been conducted with male animals due to different hormone levels in females that may make the research more difficult. It was assumed that the fight-or-flight response would apply also to females but this was found not to be true by Shelley Taylor et al (2000). Their findings suggested females had a different tend-and-befriend response at times of stress.
Universality
Universality concerns the aim to develop theories that apply to all people, which may include real differences.
