Issues And Debates: Gender Bias

Question 1

What Is Universality?

Answer 1

• An underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing.

Question 2

What Is Bias?

Answer 2

• The tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way from others.

Question 3

What Is Gender Bias?

Answer 3

• Psychological research or theory that offers a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or women (usually women). I.E. the representation of one gender only.

Question 4

What Is Alpha Bias?

Answer 4

• The attempt to exaggerate or overestimate the differences between the genders.
• Suggests that there is real and enduring differences between men and women.
• E.g. psychodynamic approach argues that women have weaker egos as they don’t experience castration anxiety unlike men.

Question 5

What Is Beta Bias?

Answer 5

• The attempt to downplay or underestimate the differences between the genders.
• Tend to assume that behaviour insights deprived from studies of men will apply equally to women.
• E.g. fight or flight, women instead to respond with tend and befriend.

Question 6

What Is Androcentrism?

Answer 6

• When men’s behaviour is the standard against which women’s behaviour is compared.
• Female behaviour is often judged to be ‘abnormal’, ‘deficient’ or ‘inferior’ by comparison.
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) or postnatal depression is seen as abnormal.

Question 7

Evaluation: Limitation - Misleading Assumptions About Female Behaviour.

Answer 7

• 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 pre-menstrual syndrome or postnatal depression is seen as abnormal.
• Psychological research may therefore (unknowingly) provide a way for a male dominated society to deny women opportunities within the workplace or in wider society.
• Therefore, gender bias in research is not just a methodological problem but may have damaging consequences for women in the real world.

Question 8

Evaluation: Strength - Alternative Methods.

Answer 8

• Feminist commentators have suggested a number of research criteria to ensure non-gender biased research investigations.
• Worrell (1992) proposed using alternative methods of inquiry to explore the personal lives of women, such as considering women in the natural settings in which they function, collaborating with research participants to explore personally relevant variables and studying diverse samples.
• This helps to reduce investigator biases that might affect female participants behaviour producing more valid dat

Question 9

Evaluation: Weakness - Sexism.

Answer 9

• Gender bias may occur in the research process as a result of sexism.
• There is a lack of women who are appointed at senior research levels.
• This means that female concerns may not be reflected in the research questions that are asked. - Denmark et al (1988) argued that this means that psychology may be guilty of supporting a form of institutional sexism that creates bias in theory and research.

Question 10

Evaluation: Strength - Reflexivity.

Answer 10

• Recognition of the effect of a researcher’s values and assumptions on their work is leading to increased reflexivity.
• Dambrin and Lambert (2008) in their study of the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms included reflection on how their gender-related experiences influenced their reading of events.
• This shows that academics are embracing their biases to understand how they are involved in the research process.
• Such reflexivity is an important development in psychology and may lead to greater awareness of the role of personal biases in shaping research in the future.

Question 11

Evaluation: Strength - Reduce Differences Between Men And Women.

Answer 11

• Feminist psychology accepts that there are biological differences between males and females but looks at how to reduce these differences.
• Eagly (1978) claims that females are less effective leaders than males.
• The research concluded that there needed to be the development of training programmes to reduce the lack of female leaders in the world.
• This demonstrates how recognising gender bias can improve individuals’ experiences.