Sexism Controversy

Question 1

Sexism controversy - Intro & 4

Answer 1

Many psychological theories have ‘male as norm’ perspective and an androcentric bias
There are also genuine gender differences which should be studied not ignored
GENDER DIFFERENCE OR BIAS / HISTORICAL & SOCIAL CONTEXT / HETEROSEXISM & ANDROCENTRISM / INVISIBILITY OF WOMEN

Question 2

Sexism Controversy - Gender difference or bias

Answer 2

Undergraduate level - female psychology students outnumber 4-1: men = more likely to get a masters bc women use degrees for jobs (nursing / psychologist)

Alpha bias - stereotypically ‘male’ or ‘female’ characteristics emphasised and exaggerated failed masculinity (e.g Freud - psychosexual stages; femininity = penis envy)
Beta bias - ignores & minimises differences (male insights shared by females despite bias toward male perspective - Kohlberg = androcentric but generalised to all)

Tavris - men & women have same mood swings but women = classed as disorder (PMS) / men = fluctuating hormone levels are normal (hyper-testosterone syndrome)

Question 3

Sexism controversy - historical & social context

Answer 3

Bettleheim (65) - women want to be wives and mothers before anything else
Smith & Lloyd (78) - mothers presented with child dressed as boy / girl & corresponding name reinforced gender stereotypes w/ toys given (hammer v doll)
Mondschein et al. (00) - mothers gave girls lower crawling expectation despite no difference
Racusin et al. (12) - Jennifer job applications = less competent as John

Question 4

Sexism controversy - heterosexism & androcentrism

Answer 4

Problematic when all ppts are male & findings = generalised to all
Kohlberg - chose to use only male ppts bc women = focussed on compassion & care morals vs men = law & justice principles
Milgram - men = more aggressive than women = used men for exp (most death camp officers = male)
Baker et al. - most studies of stress = androcentric but Baker’s study showed women had some effects so androcentrism does not always invalidate results

Question 5

Sexism controversy - invisibility of women

Answer 5

First names are rarely used by researchers (Kobasa & Maddi)
Anna Freud - in father’s shadow - worked as psychoanalyst & wrote book about ‘ego’ and ‘mechanism of defence’ = known as Freud’s theories
L&P - Elizabeth Loftus
Milgram - in all of studies, 40 women used & no info about them
APA - Top 100 psychologists of 20th century: 6 women

Question 6

Sexism controversy - Mnemonic

Answer 6

Gtuba / Hmrbs / Hkbm / Ima