Sexism

Question 1

What sections are used to explain sexism?

Answer 1

Gender Differences: Alpha and Beta bias
Heterosexism
Historical and Social Context
Invisibility of Women

Question 2

What is Alpha Bias?

Answer 2

• Freud -psychosexual stages of development
• Femininity viewed as failed masculinity
• Don’t allow sexes to be viewed as completely equal
• Penis Envy - morally inferior

Question 3

What is Beta Bias?

Answer 3

The belief that there are no differences between sex
Male studies equally apply to women
ANDROCENTRIC BIAS
KOHLBERG - all studies based of males moral reasoning but applied to women
Differences devalued

Question 4

What is heterosexism?

Answer 4

The natural relationship is males + female
Not same sex
All psychological research was based on small sample of relationships
Alpha or Beta Bias: socially sensitive
- distinguish differences - lead to stereotypes
- no differences - devalued

Question 5

What is the historical or social context of sexism?

Answer 5

Gender is a social construct
Lloyd - Mothers picked out gender specific toys - boys with cars, girls with dolls
- Parents reinforce gender stereotypes

Question 6

Sexism due to Biological research

Answer 6

• males always used in research and female hormones disregarded when investigating behaviour
• e.g. flight-flight response
  all people reacted in the same way to hight stress situations
• females act with a tend-befriend

Question 7

What is the invisibility of women in psychology?

Answer 7

• The use of surnames are unable to distinguish between gender
• authors are likely to be male
• American Psychological Association
  6 women named on 100 psychologists
• Most undergraduates form Uni are female