Gender Bias : Issues Flashcards
What is gender bias in psychology ?
-Gender bias refers to the differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences
-Research can be criticised for having this sort of bias if it is evident that findings do not represent the behaviour of either men or women.
- should be considered when designing or interpreting research
-or else it undermines psychology’s claim to achieve universality (research can be applied to everyone and everywhere)
Examples of gender bias in psychology
It includes ANDROCENTRISM (male orientated) , ALPHA AND BETA BIAS.
androcentrism
1.psychologists were all men, theories produced tend to be male-orientated
2. androcentrism may result in (a) alpha (b)beta bias
Define alpha bias
the tendency within psychological research WHICH EXAGGERATES OR OVERESTIMATES DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES
-perceived as fixed and inevitable)
-differences are more likely to devalue females in relation to male
-research are only completed on one fender in the belief it is investigating behaviour that only applies to one gender
List some psychology research which shows examples of being alpha biased
Freud’s theories
-men were more powerful
-women morally inferior as they have weaker identification with mother (superego develops from Oedipus conflict)
- women as being jealous of maleness
-penis envy and focus on Oedipus complex (his idea is male-focused)
-female criminality as a result of moral inferiority by an underdeveloped superego
(research on Anorexia in the past had only been completed on girls as it is believed that it only affects girls)
Define beta bias
-ignores, minimises or underestimates differences between men and women
-only participants of one gender but generalised to all
-needs of one gender (often women) are often ignored
Examples of research with beta bias
- Asch study of conformity (line matching task)
-all male participants in original study, yet results are generalised to everyone - Kohlberg’s theory of moral development
-72 boys (Heinz dilemma) HOWEVER it is found that men tend to focus on logic and rules, whilst women focus more on the moral decision
Androcentrism and one example of it
-possible consequence of beta bias (normal behaviours drawn from all male samples)
-other behaviours that deviates seen as abnormal, might be pathologised
FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE was assumed to be universal BUT
-Shelley Taylor shows females tend to produce tend and befriend response - ensures survival of offspring
-ignoring possibility of a difference of stress response
EVALUATION : why gender bias matters for women (mistakes which either exaggerates or ignores the differences)
-ideas put forward about normal behaviours are based on biological differences but interpretation involves socially determined stereotypes (Freud as example)
-Wrong assumptions such as “women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression)
- reverse Alpha bias encourages research that promotes female superiority (Cornwell showing female are better at learning more attentive)
downsides of lab experiments
-Feminists put forward the idea that most researchers are male and female behaviour are more likely to be assessed as negative
-more should be done in real life situations
-Eagly found that studies completed in real settings found women to be more similar in their style of leadership to men than when the research was completed in a lab.
Introducing range of factors to reduce gender bias
think about issues that may arise from questions, personal assumptions etc
1.avoid gender sterotypes when writing an aim (studies of aggression should not use stereotypes of male aggression as a measure)
2.researchers should treat all participants the same way
3.select participants in a non-biased way
4.try to objectively record behaviours instead of reverting stereotypes of expected behaviours when operationalising behavioural categories
Bias in research methods
male experimenters are more friendly to female participants-> male p perform less well
-creating false picture of male-female differences
