Gender bias Flashcards
What is gender bias?
Gender bias is when one gender is treated less favourably than the other, often referred to as sexism
What are a range of consequences from gender bias?
Scientifically misleading
Upholding stereotypical assumptions
Validating sex discrimination
What does avoiding gender bias not mean?
Pretending women and men are the same
What are the three types of gender bias?
Alpha bias
Beta bias
Androcentrism
When does alpha bias occur?
When differences between men and women are exaggerated
What does alpha bias cause stereotypical male and female characteristics to be?
Emphasised
Fixed and inevitable
What is alpha bias likely to do?
Devalue females in relation to their male counterparts
When does beta bias occur?
When differences between men and women are minimised
When does beta bias happen?
When the findings obtained from men are applied to women without additional validation, which usually happens when female participants are not included as part of research process
What is an example of beta bias?
Thought Kohlberg’s moral development findings from the study on men were applicable to women and universal
What is androcentrism a consequence of?
Beta bias
Why does androcentrism occur?
When all behaviour is compared according to a ‘male’ standard, often to the neglect or exclusion of women
How is the psychodynamic explanation for offending an example of alpha bias?
It suggests criminality occurs due to a deviant superego
As females don’t experience castration anxiety, according to Freud, they have less of a need to identify with the moral standards of their same-sex parent
Suggests that females are less moral than males
How does Freud’s idea of females having ‘Penis envy’ relate to alpha bias?
They are defined psychologically by the fact that they aren’t men
How does Wilson’s sociobiological theory of relationship formation link to alpha bias?
The type of alpha bias may lead to stereotyping and prejudice against women who take part in such behaviours
What does Wilson’s sociobiological theory of relationship formation suggest?
Sexual promiscuity in males is genetically determined, whereas promiscuous females are going against their nature
How does schizophrenia diagnosis link to alpha bias?
More men are diagnosed with schizophrenia than women
The schizophrenic symptoms of women may be masked or not viewed as severe enough to merit a diagnosis
What can androcentrism cause?
Female behaviour being misunderstood or pathologised (taken as a sign of a psychological instability)
How is the view on PMS linked to androcentrism?
Some believe androcentrism is a social construct and trivialises female behaviour, especially anger.
However, male anger is seen as a logical response to external pressures
Why do a lot of studies just use male participants?
They believe the results from males are enough to be generalisable to females, eg. flight or fight research conducted on male samples as the hormone levels in females would make it too hard to carry out
What are positive consequences of alpha bias?
- Led some theorists to assert the worth and valuation of ‘feminine qualities’
- Led to healthy criticism of cultural values that praise certain ‘male’ qualities such as aggression and individualism as desirable, adaptive and universal
What is universality?
The aim to develop theories that can apply to all people, which may include individual differences
What can reduce universality?
Bias
Lack of Validity
Issues with reliability
What is a positive consequence of beta bias?
- Makes people see men and women as the same which has led to equal treatment in legal terms and equal access to things such as education and employment
