Gener Bias Flashcards
What are the two ways that theories can be gender biased
Alpha bias - where theories exaggerate the differences between men and women
Beta bias- where theories minimise the differences between men and women
Why may theories use beta bias
In order to produce theories that can claim to have universitality
What is universitality
The aim to develop theories that apply to all people, which may include real differences
What is androcentrism
Research that represents a male world-view, as historically psychology has been male dominated
What is an example of alpha bias in research
Freud’s theories, which reflected the culture in which he lived, a cultrue which saw men as more powerful and educated than women. Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity, exaggerating differences between men and women. This is emphasised by Freud’s belief in ‘Penis envy’, which causes the Odepius Complex, which causes the development of the Super Ego, so the lack of a penis means women must be morally inferior
What is an example of beta bias in research
The Fight of Flight response, where it was assumed that male only (animal) samples wouldn’t matter as what is true for males would be true for females. The assumption that stress response is universal was criticised by Taylor et al, who provided evidence that women produce a tend and befriend response at times of stress. The beta bias research ignoring the possibility of gender differences meant female behaviour went undescovered
What is the correct response to beta bias
Recognising differences but not the superiority of one gender over another. Eradicating gender differences would be beta bias.
Explain the role of gender bias in Moral Reasoning Research
Kohlberg produced a influential theory on moral development based on an entirely male sample, finding that moral decisions were based on the etic justice. This was beta biased. Carol Gilligan pointed out a number of gender bias issues with the study, and in her own research showed that women favoured care orientation (avoiding hurting someones feelings) while men favoured a justice orientation. Men and women were different
How does feminist psychology counter androcentrism
It aims to redress the imbalances in theory and research in psychology, agreeing that there are biological differences, but that socially determined steriotypes make a far greater contribution to percieved differences. Suprisingly one way to redress the balance is to use research suggesting women are ‘inferior’ to provide greater support, such as in Eagly’s study which claimed women may be less effective leaders. This should be used to develop a suitable training programme for women. This seeks to provide greater equality.
Who’s study claimed women may be less effective leaders
Eagly
How does bias in research methods contribute to gender bias
Methods used are gender-biased, for example Rosenthal found male experimenters to be more pleasant, friendly and encouraging to female participants than male ones. As a result male participants appeared to perform less well on assigned tasks. Feminists argue that lab studies disadvantage women as they don’t mirror real life settings. A meta analysis by Eagly and Johnson noted that studies in real settings found women and men were judged more similarly in leadership style than in lab settings. This suggests serious issues in how data is collected.
Who performed a meta analysis finding women to be more similar to men in terms of leadership style
Eagly and Johnson
Why may equal treatement for men and women (beta bias) be a disadvantage
Hare-Mustin and Marecek point out that arguing for equality between men and women draws attention away from women’s special needs and from differences in power between men and women. In a society where one group holds most of the power, seemingly neutral actions end up benefitting the group with power. For example, equal parental leave for pregnancy ignores the more extreme needs of women, therefore disadvantaging them. This shows that beta bias should be avoided in order to ensure that signigicant differences are taken care of.
Who argued that equality may be bad for women (not really)
Hare-Mustin and Marecek
Explain how gender bias cotinues to go unchallenged in theories
Many gender biases continue to go unchallenged, such as in Darwin’s theory of sexual selection portrays women as choosy and males as the ones who compete to be chosen. This has recently been challenged for being rooted in Victorian ideals about gender roles. It has been recognised that women are equally competitive and aggressive when the need arises, for example, DNA evidence supports the idea that it is good adaptive strategy for females to mate with more than one man, which puts females in competition with other females. This highlights the importance of challenging research
