Gender in Psychology

Question 1

Gender bias

Answer 1

• The differential treatment and/or representation of males and females

Question 2

Alpha bias

Answer 2

• Theories or research that exaggerates the differences between males and females

Question 3

Beta bias

Answer 3

• Theories or research that minimises or ignores the differences between males and females

Question 4

Androcentrism

Answer 4

• Theories which are centered or focussed on males

Question 5

Universiality

Answer 5

• When a theory is universal it can be applied to all people irrespective of culture or gender

Question 6

Who is psychology dominated by

Answer 6

• Males

Question 7

Impacts of Psychology being male-dominated

Answer 7

• Most theories reflect males
• Female perspectives have been marginalised/minimalised

Question 8

Freud’s psychodynamic approach

Answer 8

• Alpha bias = exaggerate the differences between males and females
• Argued that boys and girls experience different conflicts in their psychosexual development
• Girls do not suffer the same oedipal conflict as boys and therefore do not identify with their mothers as strongly as boys identify with their fathers
• Then argued that this had an impact on development, arguing girls are inferior to girls as a reuslt and therefore develop a weak superego, emphasisng differences between males and females
• There is no evidence that females possess a weaker superego, research into morality and offending behaviour

Question 9

Evolutionary theories for attachment

Answer 9

• Alpha bias = exaggerate the differences between males and females
• Explains behaviour through the human need to survive and reprocude
• Explains how males and females are innately different to help their adaptation to roles, aiding survival of a species
• Males tend to be more dominant and women have more empathy and parental investment to aid the survival of offspring

Question 10

What can beta bias result in

Answer 10

• Androcentrism = this is when male behaviour is then taken to be the norm and then females are then taken against this standard

Question 11

Social influence

Answer 11

• Beta bias = ignoring or minimising sex differences
• Asch’s 1950s research into conformity involved a sample of male only participants and therefore demonstrated beta bias, leading to androcentrism
• It was assumed that females would respind in the same way as males and therefore show the same conformity rate
• More recent research by Mori and Arai showed gender differences in conformity rates