I&D- gender bias

Question 1

define gender bias

Answer 1

the different treatments and representation of males and females based on stereotypes and not real differences

Question 2

define Alpha bias

Answer 2

Theories that exaggerate the differences between males and females

Question 3

define Gynocentrism

Answer 3

Theories focused on only females

Question 4

define Androcentrism

Answer 4

Theories focused and centered on males, which excludes females

Question 5

define Beta bias

Answer 5

Theories that ignore or minimise the differences between male and females, which tend to ignore questions about the lives of women or assume that the studies on men apply equally to women

Question 6

define Universality

Answer 6

aims to make theories that aim to explain behaviour for all so it must apply to everyone which may show the real differences of males and females

Question 7

define bias

Answer 7

Someone’s view is distorted or skewed in a certain way

Question 8

name the three Beta bias researches

Answer 8

1. Asch’s line study -123 male ppts- conformity
2. Zimbardo’s prison study- 22 males- conforming to social roles- supports a situational explanation of behaviour
3. Fight of Flight Stress Response- male animals as they had less hormone variation- assumed females would be the same but Taylor et al 2000, challenged it and discovered they use tend and befriend as it ensures survival of offspring

Question 9

name the Alpha bias research

Answer 9

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory- viewed females as failed males
stated girls don’t suffer the same oedipal conflict as boys, so don’t identify with their mother’s as strongly as boys identify with their fathers, therefore developed weaker superegos

Question 10

What’s the name of the Moral Reasoning Research, which has beta bias

Answer 10

Kohlberg (1969)- stated that moral decisions are based on an ethic of justice
- his ppts were all male and asked them to describe what behaviour is right in situations related to fairness, then assumed it applied to all

Question 11

who went against Kolhberg’s research and tried to develop a theory that had U
Universality

Answer 11

Carol Gillian (1982) her own research showed that females favoured care orientation and males favoured justice orientation, but there was not bias as neither was seen as ‘better’ than the other- they were just different

Question 12

What can be used to reduce gender bias

Answer 12

-Use representative samples
-have male and female researchers
- have an appropriate procedure for both males and females
-use reflexivity to appreciate potential bias

Question 13

para 1
first evaluation point
Ge____ B___ can have neg_____ im________ on the gender being exc_____

Answer 13

P- Gender bias research can have negative implications on a gender which is being excluded. This is most commonly females because of the androcentric world we live in.
E- Males do dominate psychological research, for example, Asch’s line study to demonstrate conformity had a sample of 123 males and 0 females, which results in research coming across from only a male view of the world.
E- This can then lead to misleading assumptions about females because its from only a males judgement,
L- therefore can end in some women suffering with severe mental health problems such as depression and or PTSD.

Question 14

para 2:
2nd evaluation point on
The m______ in research are b_____ orignally, which leads to g_____-b___ results

Answer 14

P- A criticism of research is that the methods they use are biased originally, which will develop gender-bias results.
E- Rosenthal (1966) found that male experimenters are more pleasant, encouraging and friendly to female ppts rather than male ppts.
E-This made the results biased because male and female ppts were not treated equally whilst participating.
L-The impact of this meant that the male ppts performance was worse on each assigned task, compared the females, which suggests have important it is to make sure all ppts have the same experience otherwise the findings will be skewed.

Question 15

para 3:
3rd evaluation
C_____ Andr__________ by taking a f_______ pers______

Answer 15

P- One way to counter Androcentrism is to take a feminist perspective. It attempts to restore the imbalance in psychological research.
E- For example, Research by Eagly (1978) claims that females are less effective leaders than males, but this knowledge should be used to help researchers develop training programmes aimed to create a future with more female leaders in the real-world.
E- This is because feminist psychology accepts that there are biological differences between males and females, and use that to try benefit females wanting to research in this field of work.
L- The impact of feminist psychology helps to seek a greater understanding of behaviour in both genders and doing this through greater equality.

Question 16

para 4:
4th evaluation
strength - G_____ B___ leads to Ref______

Answer 16

P- Finally, a strength is that gender bias leads to reflexivity, due to researchers being able to recognise their effects of their values on their work. This means that they embrace bias as an important aspect of the research process rather than see it as a problem threatening the objective status of their work.
E- For example, Dambrin and Lambert’s study of the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms, they include reflection on how their gender-related experiences influence their understanding of events.
E- Such reflexivity is an important because it impacts the development in psychology and may lead to greater awareness of the role of personal bias in shaping future research.
L- This results in experimenters being more open and accepting that studies have bias, and therefore attempt to find solutions to try reduce that gender bias.