Gender bias

Question 1

what is Universality

Answer 1

Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, regardless of time or culture, and despite differences of experience and upbringing.
Gender and culture bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology.
In psychology, the aim is to produce theories that can claim to have universality i.e. applies equally to both genders.

Question 2

what is gender

Answer 2

What is gender?
Gender refers to the behavioural, cultural and psychological characteristics that distinguish males from females.

Question 3

what is gender bias

Answer 3

When considering human behaviour, bias is a tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way from others.
In the context of gender bias, psychological research or theory may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or women (usually women).

Question 4

Gender bias can occur in three main ways:

Answer 4

Sampling e.g. research conducted on all-male/female samples
Viewing male behaviour as standard
Emphasising biological differences between males and females, which might lead to inferred behavioural differences

Question 5

Cause of gender bias
1. Male samples
(Give explanation and example)

Answer 5

Research being conducted on all-male samples and this not being made clear in the research report.
Some key studies in psychology have had male-only samples and yet the findings have been generalised to women.

Milgram’s (1965) research on obedience used a male-only sample. The findings have been used to explain all obedience to an authority figure, from both males and females.

Question 6

Cause of gender bias
2. Male behaviour as standard
(Give explanation and example)

Answer 6

If the behaviour of women differs from that of men, the behaviour of women is seen as a deviation from the norm.

This has led to female behaviour being misunderstood, pathologised and diagnosed as a mental illness

Question 7

Cause of gender bias
3. Biological differences emphasis
(Give explanation and example)

Answer 7

Explanations for behaviour that emphasise the biology of the individual also sometimes underemphasises the role of social and external factors. As there are anatomical differences between men and women, any theory that has its roots in biology is liable to implicitly infer that there will be a difference in the behaviour of the two sexes.

In women, mental illness, especially depression, is much more likely to be explained in terms of neurochemical/hormonal processes, rather than other possible explanations such as social or environmental (e.g. domestic violence, discrimination).

Question 8

what is Androcentrism

Answer 8

Androcentrism: ‘male bias’ – centred or focused on men. Men’s behaviour is the standard (‘norm’) against which women’s behaviour is compared and if it differs, it may be judged as atypical/abnormal, inferior or deficient.
This can lead to female behaviour being misunderstood and at worst, pathologised – that is, taken as a sign of psychological instability or disorder

Question 9

Androcentric theories

Answer 9

Freud attempted to explain femininity as a variant of failed masculinity, his work illustrates women as inferior to men, largely due to supposed ‘penis envy’.
Bowlby’s monotropic theory is an androcentric theory that assumes that women should be the one at home bringing up the children.
Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) as a diagnostic category medicalises female emotions e.g. anger.

Question 10

Androcentric studies

Answer 10

Asch’s original study into conformity was conducted on an entirely male sample. He suggested that findings would be the same for both males and females.
Zimbardo’s research, studying conformity to social roles, only involved male participants.
Milgram only sampled males in his research on obedience.

Question 11

Types of Gender Bias

Answer 11

Hare-Mustin and Marecek (1988) argue that gender bias is split into two types: alpha bias and beta bias.

Question 12

what is alpha bias

Answer 12

Alpha Bias: The attempt to exaggerate the differences between the genders

Psychological theories that suggest there are real and enduring differences between males and females. They may enhance or undervalue members of either sex, but typically devalue females.

Question 13

what is beta bias

Answer 13

Beta Bias: The attempt to downplay/minimise differences between males and females.

Psychological theories that ignore or minimise differences between males and females. Such theories tend to assume that insights derived from studies of men will apply equally well to women

Question 14

In his alpha-biased theory of psychoanalysis, Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity – he exaggerated the difference between men and women.

Answer 14

In his theory, women are seen as being inferior to men because they are jealous of men’s penises (penis envy) and because they cannot undergo the same Oedipus conflict as boys do (which involves castration anxiety).
Because the superego develops from the Oedipus conflict, women must therefore be morally inferior because they have a weaker identification with their mother

Question 15

In stress research (e.g. Selye) it was assumed that the fight-or-flight response was universal. This research was based on male-only samples, with researchers assuming that what is true for males would be true for females.

Answer 15

However, research has provided evidence that females produce a tend-and-befriend response at times of stress i.e. foster social support, which is adaptive because it ensures the survival of their offspring.
The beta-biased approach of ignoring the possibility of a difference meant that female behaviour went undiscovered and meant that the stress response was not fully understood.
The beta bias meant that a real difference was ignored.

Question 16

Implications of Gender Bias

Answer 16

Gender-biased research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereotypes and validate discriminatory practices.
It may provide a ‘scientific’ justification to deny women opportunities within the workplace or wider society.
Thus, gender bias in research is not just a methodological problem, but may have damaging consequences which affect the lives and prospects of real women (for instance, the statistic that women are around twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men may lead to discrimination).

Question 17

Bias in research methods

Answer 17

It may not be the genders that differ, but the methods used to test or observe them are biased, so males and females appear to be different.

Question 18

Why might laboratory experiments disadvantage women?

Answer 18

Findings created in the controlled world of the laboratory tell us very little about the experiences of women outside of these settings. Women and men might respond differently to the research situation.
For example a meta-analysis found that studies in real settings found women and men were judged as more similar in styles of leadership than in laboratory settings (Eagly and Johnson, 1990).

Question 19

Another issue is the gender of the researcher:

Answer 19

Rosenthal (1966) found that male experimenters are more pleasant, friendly and encouraging to female participants than to male participants. The result was that male participants appeared to perform less well on the tasks assigned.

Question 20

Gender Bias in the Research Process

Answer 20

Although female psychology students outnumber male, at a senior teaching and research level in universities, men dominate. Men predominate at senior researcher level.
A lack of women appointed at senior research level means that female concerns may not be reflected in the research questions asked.
Male researchers are more likely to have their work published.
Studies which find evidence of gender differences are more likely to get published in journals than those that do not.
In laboratory experiments, female participants are placed in an inequitable relationship with a (usually male) researcher, who has the power to label them unreasonable, irrational and unable to complete complex tasks.

Question 21

Avoiding beta bias
Positive consequences:

Answer 21

Equal treatment under the law has allowed women greater access to educational and occupational opportunities.

Question 22

Avoiding beta bias
Negative consequences:

Answer 22

On the other hand, 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 benefiting the group with the power.
For example, equal parental leave ignores the biological demands of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, and the special needs of women, therefore disadvantaging women.

Question 23

Assumptions need to be examined

Answer 23

One of the main issues with psychological research/theory is that many examples of gender bias remain unchallenged.
For example, Darwin’s theory of sexual selection portrays women as being choosy when it comes to mate selection and males as the ones who compete to be chosen. This has been used to explain female coyness as a means of masking their interest in males when they are making choices.
However, this view (rooted in Victorian ideas) has recently been challenged, with research suggesting that women are equally competitive and aggressive when the need arises. In fact, DNA evidence supports the idea that it is a good adaptive strategy for females to mate with more than one man, competing with other females to do so.

Question 24

Feminist Psychology

Answer 24

One way to counter androcentrism is to take a feminist perspective - feminist psychology attempts to tackle the imbalances in psychological theory and research.
Feminist psychology agrees that there are real biological sex differences between males and females, but socially determined stereotypes make a far greater contribution to perceived differences.
Therefore, feminist psychology takes the view that any prerequisite to any social change with respect to gender roles must be a revision of our ‘facts’ about gender. Whether true or not, these ‘facts’ perpetuate certain beliefs about women.

Question 25

One way to redress the balance is, perhaps surprisingly, to use evidence that women may be inferior to provide women with greater support.

Answer 25

For example, research has 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 as leaders.

Question 26

Reverse alpha bias

Answer 26

Another approach is to develop theories that show the differences between men and women - but, theories that emphasise the value of women, rather than devaluing them.

Question 27

This can be seen in feminist research, which shows instances where women are better.

Answer 27

For example, research shows that women are better at learning because they are more attentive, flexible and organised (Cornwell et al., 2013).
Such research challenges the stereotype that in any gender differences the male position must be better and over time should change people’s preconceptions

Question 28

Examples of gender bias in attachment topic

Answer 28

Bowlby’s monotropic theory is an androcentric theory that assumes that women should be the one at home bringing up the children, rather than pursue career opportunities (androcentric).
Research into levels of sensitive responsiveness by Frodi et al. (1978) showed videotapes of infants crying and found no differences in the physiological responses of men and women (beta biased).

Question 29

Examples of gender bias in social influence topic

Answer 29

Research into conformity, obedience and minority influence:
Asch (1955): Conducted research into conformity on an entirely male sample (androcentric)
Milgram (1965): Only sampled males in his research on obedience (androcentric)
Moscovici et al. (1969): Only sampled females in his research on minority influence (gynocentric)