issues and debates Flashcards
what is alpha bias
the attempt to overexaggerate/overestimate the differences between the sexes. suggests there are real and enduring differences between men and women. may enhance or undervalue either sex, but tends to undervalue women
what are the 4 real differences between the sexes
- girls have greater verbal ability
- boys have greater spatial and visual ability
- boys have greater arithmetical ability which occurs in adolescence
- girls are less aggressive than boys
is gender bias necessarily conscious
no
what is beta bias
the attempt to downplay/underestimate the differences between the sexes. such theories tend to ignore questions about the lives of women or assume that insights derived from studies of men will apply equally well to women
what is the result of beta bias in psychological research
we end up with a view of human nature that is supposed to apply to men and women alike but actually has a male or androcentric bias
what is androcentrism
being centred on or dominated by males and can be conscious or unconscious. mens behaviour is the standard against which female behaviour is judged. this leads to female behaviour being misunderstood or pathologised
consequence of gender bias: gender biased research can create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereotypes, and validate discriminatory practices
- by using male behaviour as ‘standard’, female behaviour such as PMS or post natal depression is seen as abnormal (androcentrism)
- may exacerbate misogyny in society OR may have implications for women in the workplace if its used to deny them opportunities/promotions
- has real life consequences beyond psychological research
consequence of gender bias: bias in research may be the result of institutionalised sexism
- theres a lack of women appointed at senior research levels
- female pov/concerns arent reflected in research questions that get asked
- could be argued that psychology may be guilty of supporting a form of institutional sexism that creates bias in theory and research
solution for gender bias: feminist commentators have suggested a number of research criteria to ensure non-gender biased research investigations
-we can use alternative methods of inquiry to explore womens personal lives, we can consider women in the natural settings in which they function, we can collaborate with research participants to explore personally relevant variables and studying diverse samples
- this helps to reduce investigator effects causing bias in the research as investigators dont have their own input so their personal biases arent accounted for
- makes research more applicable to women/may help reduce societal prejudices/can improve the validity of the data produced
solution for gender bias: recognition of the effect of a researchers values and assumptions on their work is leading to increased reflexivity
- in a study of the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms, researchers included reflection on how their gender related experiences influenced their reading of events
- researchers are recognising their personal biases to see how it can play a role in research
- has a knock on effect for researchers to be proactive in the same way
solution for gender bias: taking a feminist approach which attempts to restore the imbalance in both psychological theories and research
- a researcher claimed that women are less effective leaders than men. the research concluded that there needed to be the development of training programmes to reduce the lack of female leaders in the world
- taking steps to fix the discrepancy between men and women can help improve peoples experiences, starting with just recognising the gender bias present
- may lead to increased opportunities for women in the workplace to help fix the gender imbalance
what is ethnocentrism
a type of cultural bias. judging other cultures by the standards and values of ones own culture. it can lead to the assumption that one ethnic group is superior to another or all others and that the behaviour in that group is the ‘norm’
what is an etic approach
an approach that looks at universal behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe and explain those behaviours that are universal
what is an emic approach
looks at behaviour from within a given culture and identifies behaviour specific to that culture
what is an imposed etic
a theory, measure, or test devised in one culture that is used to explain behaviour in another culture e/g ainsworth’s strange situation
