GENDER BIAS

Question 1

Whats universality?

Answer 1

underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experiences and upbringing

Question 2

what is bias?

Answer 2

tendency ot treat one individual or group in a different way to others could be based on stereotypes not real differences

Question 3

what is gender bias?

Answer 3

psychological research or theory that offers a view that does not justifiably represent the experience of men or women (usually women)
may be a representation of one gender only

Question 4

what is alpha bias?

Answer 4

attempt to exaggerate or overestimate the differences between genders

Question 5

what is beta bias?

Answer 5

attempt to dowplay or underestimate the differences between genders

Question 6

what is androcentrism?

Answer 6

when mens behaviour is the standard against which women behaviour is compared

female behaviour is often judged to be abnormal, deficient or inferior by comparison

Question 7

what is gender?.

Answer 7

the behavioural, cultural and psychological characteristics distinguishing males from females

Question 8

what is an example of alpha bias?

Answer 8

Freud argued that because girls do not suffer the same oedipus confluts as boys (they do not experience castration anxiety) they do not identify with their mothers as strongly as boys identify with the fathers therefore they identify weaker superegos

Question 9

what is an example of beta bias?

Answer 9

biological research into fight or flight response has often been carried out with male animals because they have less variation in hormones than females. It w as assumed that the results from male animals could be applied to females in the same way.

later research by taylor et al - women produce tend and befriend response. The bias meant that for a long time the stress response in women was not well understood - the real difference was ignored.

Question 10

what is an example of androcentrism

Answer 10

pre-mentsrual syndrome
- social construction which stereotypes and trivialises the female experience, medicalises female emotions by explaining it in hormonal terms

male anger is seen as a logical response to external pressure

Question 11

how can psychologists avoid gender bias in their research

Answer 11

• do not extrapolate findings grom research with only one gender of participants to the other gender
  
  • use both male and female pps in research
  • involve both male and female researchers to ensure that both gender viewpoints are considered in the planning,execution and interpretation of data
  • do not ignore real differences between males and females