Gender & culture: Gender bias Flashcards
1
Q
What claim in psychology does bias undermine?
A
- universality
2
Q
What is universality?
A
- An underlying characteristic of human beings that is able to be applied to all despite differences of experience or upbringing
- gender & cultural bias threaten the universality of findings in psych
3
Q
What is gender bias?
A
- When psychological research or theory may offer a view that does not represent the experience of men or women (usually women)
4
Q
What are the two forms of gender bias?
A
Alpha and beta bias
5
Q
What is Alpha bias?
A
- Psychological research or theory misrepresent behaviour by exaggerating differences between men and women
- differences typically presented as fixed or inevitable (essentialism)
- often devalue women in relation to men
6
Q
What research example is there of Alpha bias?
A
- Sociobiological theory
- Wilson (1975) Relationship formation
- Explains human sexual attraction & behaviour through the principle of ‘survival efficiency’
- Males interest to impregnate as many women as possible > increases chance of passing genes to offspring
- females best interest to preserve her genes by ensuring the healthy survival of her offspring
7
Q
What is an example of Alpha bias in psych in approaches?
A
- Freuds theory of the psychosexual development
- phallic stage both boys & girls develop a desire for the opposite gender parent
- boy has strong castration anxiety but eventually resolves when he identifies with father
- girls identification with mum weaker so superego is weaker
8
Q
What is beta bias?
A
- Psychological research/theories misrepresent behaviour by ignoring or minimising the differences between men and women
9
Q
What research example is there of beta bias against women and what research was found against this?
A
- research on the flight or fight response
- biological research favours using male animals > female behaviour affected by hormonal changes due to ovulation > thus early research assumed that both M & F respond to threatening situations with fight or flight
- Taylor et al (2000) described a tend & befriend response
- The ‘love’ hormone oxytocin is more plentiful in women (small in men)
- women respond to stress = increase in production of oxytocin
10
Q
What is an example of beta bias against men?
A
- research into attachment assumed that emotional care was provided solely by mothers
- research on the role of the father shows that fathers can supply emotional care
11
Q
What are Alpha & Beta biases consequences of and define?
A
- Androcentrism
- Male- centered, when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to the male standard
- female behaviour thus judged abnormal/deficient in comparison
12
Q
What research example is there of Androcentrism?
A
- APA ackknowledges 6 women as influential psychologist out of 100
- if womens behaviour has be considered it is has been taken as a sign of illness
- Brescoll & Uhlam (feminists) object to the diagnostic category of PMS > stereotypes & trivializes female experiences
- PMS is a social construction which medicalises female emotions e.g. anger explaining in hormonal terms
- male anger seen as rational response to external pressures
13
Q
What is a limitation of gender differences?
A
- often presented as fixed & enduring
- Maccoby & Jacklin presented findings of several gender studies that concluded > girls have a superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability
- suggested these differences are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth > these findings were widely reported as facts
- Joel et al >used brain scanning & found no such gender differences in brain structure or processing
- Possible data from M & J study popularised because it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as ‘speakers & boys as ‘doers’
- suggest we should be wary of accepting research findings at face value
14
Q
What is a counterpoint to the limitation that there are no gender differences in the brain?
A
- does not mean psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences
- Research suggest that popular social stereotypes that females are better at multitasking - biological truth to it
- women’s brains may benefit from better connections between the RH & LH than in a mans brain
- may be gender differences but should be wary of exaggerating the effect they have on behaviour
15
Q
What is another limitation of gender bias?
A
- promotes sexism in research process
- women remain underrepresented in university department (science)
-
Murphy et al > lecturers likely to be male thus research likely to be conducted by males > this may disadvantage female p’s
e.g. male researcher may expect females to be irrational & unable to complete complex tasks (Nicolson) - female p’s underperform in research studies - institutional structures produced gender biases
16
Q
What is a limitation about research challenging gender biases?
A
- may not be published
- Formanowicz et al - analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias published over 8 years
- found research on gender bias is funded less often & published by less prestigious journals
- consequence= fewer scholars aware or apply it to work
- Still true when compared with other forms of bias (ethnic)
- gender bias not taken as seriously
17
Q
What is a strength of gender bias?
A
- it can be tackled by taking a reflexive approach
- modern researchers are beginning to recongnise the effect their own values & assumptions have on the nature of their work (known as reflexivity)
- Rather than seeing such bias as a problem that may threaten the objective status of their work > they embrace it as a crucial aspect of the research process
- e.g. in their study of the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms
- Dambrin & Lambert include a reflection on how their gender-related experiences influence their reading of events
- complete objectivity in psychological research is not possible as researchers are human beings & cannot stand outside of their social & cultural experiences
- suggests that gender bias may add an extra dimension to research if psychologists are up front about it in their work
