Gender Bias Flashcards
What is gender bias?
The differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences.
What is androcentrism?
Male-centred: when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard.
What is alpha bias? 3 Examples
A tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women, theories devalue one gender in comparison to the other.
- Freud’s research on moral development 2. Bowlby’s monotropic theory 3. Diagnoses of mental disorders.
What is beta bias? 3 Examples
A tendency to ignore or minimise differences between men and women.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development 2. The fight or flight response 3. Asch and Milgram’s research on social influences.
What is universality?
Aim to develop theories that apply to all people, despite differences of experience and upbringing.
4 eval of gender-bias research
- Validates discriminatory practices
- Equity not Equality
- Reverse alpha bias
- Biological facts vs Social stereotypes
Validates discrimination
Gender-biased research creates misleading assumptions about female behaviour and validates discriminatory practices:
May provide scientific ‘justification’ to deny women opportunities within the workplace or in wider society.
E.G. pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) in females medicalises female emotions, by explaining them in hormonal terms and thus can lower opportunities for females as they can be seen as too ‘emotional’. On the other hand emotions, such as anger in males is often seen as a rational response to external pressures.
Gender bias in research may have damaging consequences which affect the lives and prospects of real women.
Equity not equality
Equity not Equality:
It may be a disadvantage to minimise differences between men and women and fight for equal treatment as this may draw attention away from women’s special needs.
For example, equal parental leave ignores the biological demands of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, and the special needs of women, therefore disadvantaging women.
Reverse alpha bias
Feminist psychologists have argues that we should develop theories which show differences but emphasise the value of women. Cornwell et al. (2013) noted that females are better at learning as they are more attentive and organised. This highlights the positive attributes of women, challenging gender stereotypes. Subverts the idea that in any gender difference, the male position must be better.
Biological facts vs social stereotypes (COUNTER)
Gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring (alpha bias) when they are not.
Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) found that several gender studies concluded that girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability. It was suggested these differences are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth leading to this being seen as a fact. However Joel et al. (2015) used brain scanning and found no such sex differences in the brain structure or processing. We should be way of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be better explained as social stereotypes.
COUNTER-ARGUMENT: This doesn’t mean that psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in the brain. E.g. Ingalhalikar et al. (2014)suggested the stereotype that females are better a multi-tasking may have some biological truth. Women’s brain may benefit from better connections between right and left hemispheres than in a man’s suggests there may be biological differences but should be wary of exaggerating the effect they may have on behaviour.
How is Bowlby’s monotropic theory alpha biased?
Bowlby’s claim that Infants must form one very special emotional bond with their mothers or else they would damage their children’s social, cognitive and emotional development leads to the view that women must stay at home to care for their child whilst the father is free to work. Therefore, reinforcing gender stereotypes.
How does the diagnosis of mental disorders show alpha bias
Hare-Mustin and Maracek (1988) claim that much of the research and literature used in the DSM and ICD classifications to diagnose depression were written by male doctors and psychologists. They also found that psychiatrists are more likely to diagnose depression in women compared with men, even when they have similar scores on standardised measures of depression or present with identical symptoms. This falsely portrays depression as more common in females. Therefore, differences between the sexes are exaggerated.
How does Freud’s theory of moral development show alpha bias?
Freud argued that through the Oedipus Complex boys develop a strong superego as they identify with their father as they fear castration if they do not regulate their sexual desire towards their mother. According to Freud, girls do not develop such a strong superego as they face less pressure to identify with the same sex parent. This is because they blame their mother for castrating them and have penis envy, leading them to have a greater identification with their father. Such claims lead to the idea that women are inferior to men as they are less morally developed than men, so exaggerating a difference between the sexes.
How is Milgram’s research beta biased?
Used 40 male participants but assumed his results on obedience to be universal when the sample doesn’t contain women.
How is early fight/flight research beta-biased?
Early research into the fight or flight response was conducted on male animals only as they have less variation in hormones and it was assumed that what was true for males would be true for females.
Later research by Taylor et al. (2000) challenged this and found that female biology has evolved to inhibit the fight or flight response and adopt the tend-and-befriend response= they shift attention towards caring for offspring and forming defensive networks with other females.
How is Kohlberg’s theory of moral development beta-biased?
Used research based mainly on male orientated dilemmas and used only male participants. Carol Gillian, one of his research assistants, suggests it is necessary to create a measure scientifically for women whilst emphasising both women’s and men’s moral development is equally as important. Kohlberg assumed there were minimal differences in terms of moral thinking and applied male responses universally, leading to women scoring as lower on levels of moral reasoning using his system.
