Issues and Debates : Gender bias Flashcards
What is gender bias?
The differential treatment / representation of males or females based on stereotypes or beliefs rather than real differences.
What is universality?
Universal = it means that it can apply to all people.
Includes real differences.
Gender:
Theories that show the similarities and differences between males and females, without devaluing either.
What is Androcentrism?
Theories that are centred around MEN
What is gynocentrism?
Theories that are centred around WOMEN.
What is an Alpha bias?
In the same way that alpha males exaggerate and show off
- Alpha BIAS is when the difference between men & women are exaggerated
- As we have seen, when most of the research is based on men, this becomes an issue
Give an example of where alpha bias has been used
A classic example of Alpha Bias is Freud (1905)
How does Freuds’ research show alpha bias?
During the Phallic Stage of development, both boys and girls develop desire for their parents.
For boys this leads to castration anxiety, which is resolved when they identify with their fathers…
Due to this unresolved issue, Freud believed young girls suffer from
‘Penis Envy’
* Also, a lack of identification with their fathers is said to leads to a weaker Superego
* Freud’s theory focused predominantly on men, despite many of his patients being female
* Viewed femininity as a failed form of masculinity
What is another example of Alpha bias?
- Socio-biological theory of relationship formation is an example, suggesting male infidelity as inevitable, and female maternity as inevitable, due to biological needs
- Acting outside of their genetic make-up becomes abnormal behaviour
What is beta bias?
Beta Bias ignores or minimizes the difference between the sexes
These theories often assume that the findings from males can apply equally to females
Beta Bias can sometimes have a positive effect, leading to further research…
Give an example of Beta Bias in research
A nice (easy to remember) example is with biological psychological research into the Fight-Or-Flight response
- Research has tended to focus on male animals due to hormone levels being easier to monitor
- First assumption is that these responses would be the same in humans, but also that this would affect men and women equally
What does beta bias mean for females?
Psychologists have since investigated whether there is a difference between men and women’s response to stress
Taylor et al. (2005) found that women adopt a ‘tend and befriend’ response to stressful situations
In this instance, the Beta Bias, once acknowledged, has led to further research and a positive change in Psychology
What is a consequence of Androcentrism?
Leads to female behaviour being misunderstood and pathologized.
- Taken as a psychological instability or disorder.
- Feminist commentators have been objected to the diagnostic category PMS on the grounds it stereotypes and trivialises female experience.
Example Brescoll and Uhlman (2008):
* Claim PMS is a social construct which medicalises female emotion, especially anger, by explaining it in hormonal terms.
* Male anger is often seen as a rational response to external pressures.
What is a problem with involving gender bias being involved in psychological research?
Weakness : Gender sterotypes often go unchalleneged
One main limitation of psychological research is that issues of gender bias often go unchallenged
- For example, Darwin’s established theory of sexual selection suggests that women are selective in terms of male selection.
- These views have only recently been challenged by DNA evidence suggesting that women are equally as competitive to men when the need arises.
This highlights the importance of continually challenging earlier gender research and reducing gender bias to ensure that a valid picture of women is portrayed in contemporary studies.
What is a another way to reduce gender bias in psychology?
Strength : Possible solution - Empower women
- More contemporary psychologists have looked for ways to reduce gender bias, putting forward a number of solutions.
- For example, some psychologists attempt to develop theories that emphasise the importance or value of women.
- Cornwell et al. (2013) noted that females are better at learning, as they are more attentive and organised, thus emphasising both the value and the positive attributes of women.
As a result, this type of research helps to reduce or challenge gender stereotypes which is important in reducing gender bias.
What is a way to reduce gender bias in psychological research?
Possible solution : Feminist Psychology
Another way to reduce gender bias is to take a feminist approach, which attempts to restore the imbalance in both psychological theories and research.
- For example, feminist psychology accepts that there are biological differences between
males and females, but socially determined stereotypes make a far greater contribution to perceived differences, therefore they need to be consistently readdressed. - Feminist psychology argues to restore the imbalance in both psychological theories and
research we could use evidence that women may be inferior. - Research by Eagly (1978) claims that female are less effective leaders than males.
However, the purpose of Eagly’s claim is to help researchers develop training programmes aimed at reducing the lack of female leaders in the real-world.
