Issues & Debates - Gender Bias Flashcards
Define gender bias
The differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real difference
Define alpha bias
A tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women, suggesting that there are real and enduring differences between the two sexes.
The consequences are that theories devalue one gender in comparison to the other, but typically devalue women.
Example of alpha bias - Freud
Psychodynamic explanations for offending behaviour suggests that criminality occurs due to a deviant superego.
According to Freud, since females do not experience
castration anxiety, they are under less pressure and have less of a need to identify with the moral standards of their same-sex parent, as compared to boys.
This suggests that females, in line with the psychodynamic approach, are less moral than males - an idea which has been refuted by Hoffman et al.
Example of alpha bias - schizophrenia
Historically, since the 1980s, schizophrenia has been diagnosed more frequently in men compared to women, whereas before this time there had been no significant
differences.
This is an example of alpha bias, according to Cotton et al, because women are more likely to be able to continue working, maintain good interpersonal relationships and show less distress than men. This means that the schizophrenic symptoms of women may be masked or not severe enough to merit a diagnosis.
Example of alpha bias - sexual promiscuity
Wilson’s sociobiological theory of relationship formation suggests that sexual promiscuity in males is genetically determined, whereas promiscuous females are going
against their ‘nature’. Females, from an evolutionary standpoint, need to be more selective when choosing their mates, due to having a limited supply of eggs and
requiring more energy and effort to reproduce, compared to men.
Therefore, such alpha bias may lead to prejudice and stereotyping of women who engage in these
behaviours.
Define androcentrism
The consequence of beta bias and occurs when all behaviour is compared according to a ‘male’ standard, often to the neglect or exclusion of women.
Example of androcentrism - PMS
PMS has been criticised by some as being a social construction, which trivialises female
emotion, particularly anger. On the other hand, male anger is seen as a logical response to
external pressures (Brescoll and Uhlman).
Example of androcentrism - fight or flight
Androcentrism can result in people assuming that what is true for men is also true for women, thus minimising the differences between men and women.
An example of beta bias is research on fight or flight, research is usually conducted with male animals as in
females the variation in hormone levels would make research more difficult – it has been assumed that only male samples are needed as what is true for males is true for females, until a study challenged this, which provided evidence that females produce a tend and befriend response at times of stress which is adaptive as it ensures the survival of the offspring. This beta bias meant that a real difference was ignored.
Example of androcentrism - fight or flight
Androcentrism can result in people assuming that what is true for men is also true for
women, thus minimising the differences between men and women. An example of beta
bias is research on fight or flight, research is usually conducted with male animals as in
females the variation in hormone levels would make research more difficult – it has been
assumed that only male samples are needed as what is true for males is true for females,
until Shelley Taylor 2000 challenged this, they provided evidence that females produce a
tend and befriend respond at times of stress which is adaptive as it ensures the survival of
the offspring. This beta bias meant that a real difference was ignored.
Define beta bias
A tendency to ignore or minimise differences between men and women. Such
theories tend to ignore questions about the lives of women, or insights derived from
studies of men will apply equally well to women.
Example of beta bias - fight or flight rats
Early research conducted into the fight or flight response exclusively used male lab mice because they experience fewer hormonal fluctuations and so changes in
adrenaline, due to environmental stressors, could be more reliably measured.
However, results from these studies were then generalised to females, ignoring differences
between the two sexes (e.g. speed and extent of the fight or flight response).
Example of beta bias - Moral reasoning
Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning theory was developed on the basis of studying
groups of American males, who all answered questions based on moral dilemmas e.g.
the Heinz dilemma. These results were then generalised to represent levels of moral
reasoning for both men and women.
Define universality
The aim to develop theories that apply to all people, which may include real differences. This describes any underlying characteristic of human behaviour which can be applied to all individuals, regardless of their differences. Bias, lack of validity and issues with reliability reduce the universality of psychological findings
Evaluation of gender bias - feminist psychology +
Feminist psychology argues that there
are real differences but socially determined stereotypes make a far greater contribution
to perceived differences. Androcentrism can be countered by a feminist view and the
balance can be readdressed. For example, Eagly (1978) acknowledged that women may be
less effective leaders than men but this knowledge should be used to develop suitable
training programmes and therefore create a future with more women leaders.
Evaluation of gender bias - Bias in research methods -
If theories and studies are gender biased, the research may
find differences between genders but it may not be the genders that differ but simply the
methods used to test or observe them. For example, Rosenthal (1966) found that male
experimenters are more pleasant and encouraging to female participants and subsequently
they perform better in tasks/male participants appeared to perform less well. Secondly,
fewer women being appointed at senior research positions means that female concerns
are less likely to be reflected in the experimental questions.
