gender bias Flashcards
universiality
The idea that psychological research and theories can be applied to everyone, regardless of gender or culture.
bias
The effects that the psychologist’s own gender and culture may have on a theory or outcome of a study.
alpha bias
when differences between males and females are exaggerated. This type of bias can be used to undervalue one of the sexes.
beta bais
when differences between males and females are minimized. This happens when a study only uses participants of one gender but then conclusions are applied to the whole population.
androcentrism
male centred, when normal beh is judged according to a male standard (meaning that female beh is often judged to be abnormal or deficient by comparison)
what study suggests androcentrism
Denmark (1988)
what did it suggest
suggested that a gendered form of bias is found in all the stages of the Psychological research process.
what are the effect of Androcentrism
Institutionalized bias
what 4 things show this
question formation
research design
sampling
conclusions
why question formation
Most questions echo the Gender stereotypes in the modern society.
why research design
The experimental approach is more associated with characteristics that match the ‘masculine’ stereotype. Accepted methodologies are based on logic and rationality rather than empathy or compassion. Perhaps this is because they were seen as more ‘feminine’.
why sampling
Most research samples are made up of white, typically male students. This is then seen as typical human behavior
why conclusions
Is it right that the findings of one Gender, is then generalized to both Genders?
whats an example from approaches that shows alpha bias
Freud- psychodynamic approach:
his theory suggested that women are inferior as young girls suffered ‘penis envy’ and he viewed femininity as a failed form of masculinity
whats an example of beta bias from bio psyc
assumed ‘fight-or-flight’ would apply to both sexes yet Taylor et al (2002) found females tend to adopt a ‘tend and befriend’ approach when in stressful and dangerous situations.
example of androcentrism from social psyc
The original study used only male participants, assuming that results would generalize to all humans, including women.
This reflects androcentrism, where male experiences are considered the norm while female experiences are overlooked.
Early social psychology research, dominated by male researchers, often reinforced stereotypes that men are independent thinkers, while women are more socially compliant- generalizations may be wrong
whats a strength
led to greater awareness and improvements in research practices.
whats an example of this (think asch)
Eagly and Carli (1981), found that women may conform more than men in certain situations- possibly because of differences in social roles or upbringing. This challenged the assumption that conformity rates are the same across genders.
what can we conclude from this
makes research more balanced increasing its face validity as more accurately reflects male and female experience
what are 2 weaknesses
female research may receive less funding
lack of female representation can give rise to the idea that women generally are not as important or high-status as men
expand on first point
traditionally associated with men, such as testosterone-related behavior or male health issues. This bias in funding can limit the scope and depth of important research on women’s health, gender inequality, or female psychology- for example lack of depth of understanding about menstrual cycle effects would there be more of an understanding if applied to men too?
what can we conclude from this
understanding women’s experiences poorly or inaccurately
limiting the advancement of knowledge and potentially contributing to gender inequality in scientific fields.
expand on lack of female representation can give rise to the idea that women generally are not as important or high-status as men with real life example
can lead to job roles being given to men as women seen as less capable or differences in pay
BBC publicly revealed the salaries of its top-earning stars, it was discovered that male employees were paid significantly more than their female counterparts, even when performing similar roles
what can we conclude from this
research can reinforce stereotypes giving women disadvantages in many significant walks in life such as their career due to research focusing on men’s achievements and abilities rather than both equally neglecting the idea of women being equally as capable
