Gender Bias Flashcards
Gender bias definition:
The differential treatment and/or representation of males and females, based on stereotypes and not real differences.
Showing a prejudice either for or against something.
Androcentrism:
Research that has a male centred view of the world in which only males matter.
Studies are carried out on men and generalised to both genders.
Differences are either ignored or considered to be of no value eg. Freud’s psychodynamic approach, Te Oedipus Complex and the female equivalent of penis envy.
But Freud did live in an extremely male dominated time.
Alpha bias:
Exaggerates the differences between males and females
Beta bias:
Minimise or ignores differences between males and females.
Example of alpha bias:
Freud’s theory reflects the culture in which he lived, where men were more powerful and educated, and so were regarded as more superior than women.
In his alpha biased theory of psychoanalysis Freud viewers femininity as a failed version of masculinity, so he exaggerated the differences between men and females.
Example if beta bias:
Kohlberg produced a theory of moral development that suggested that moral decisions are based on an ethic of justice.
This was based on research on men and boys and assumed responses could be applied to all people.
Gillian later found that women favoured a care orientation and showed that men and women are different, but it is not biased because neither kind of moral reasoning was considered as better - they are just different.
Men’s morality evolves around justice whereas woman’s morality is based in care.
Universality:
Aim to develop theories that apply to all people.
Usually, when we want to make it universal, we tend to eradicate gender biases, which makes it beta bias.
Solution lies in recognising differences but not the superiority of one gender over the other.
