Controversy - Sexism Flashcards
What is sexism? When can it occur?
Sexism consists of 3 things.
Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.
Occur when analysing results, designing research and reporting findings.
What does the invisibility of women refer to?
Who may be ignored? Why?
Tendency of students and wider society to ignore or minimise the role of women in psychology.
Loftus May be ignored or incorrectly considered male.
Occur unconsciously and may reflect wider stereotypes of science as a male dominated profession.
Why might the invisibility of women be a problem?
Means the contributions of women are ignored, psychology considered a male profession which can result in fewer females choosing the subject.
What evidence is there for the invisibility of women in psychology?
How can the invisibility of women be challenged?
Is the invisibility a bias or dies it reflect characteristics of the population?
Maxine Bernstein and Nancy Russo - quiz aiming to test the knowledge of female researchers in psychology. Gave to colleagues, unable to identify female researchers. Suggest psychology has a masculinity bias.
Bernstein and Russo argue that women are made invisible partly by practice of adding first initials only to surnames. Should become common practice to include full for forenames in references.
Steven Haggbloom st Al for The American Psychological Association, most important psychologists - 6/100 were women.
Shows female researchers are less likely to publish or shows sexism within the discipline undervalue or ignored by the patriarch. Could just be fewer females.
Why could it be argued that women are no longer invisible?
Bonnie sticklund - 1/3 of all psychologists and more then 50% gaining their PhD were female in 1987.
Also, psychology of women quarterly - journal for women psychology.
2020, Joint Council for Qualifications reported that 74% of A levdl students studying psychology were female.
APA reported in 2017, 55% PhD in psychology were for females.
No longer invisible.
What is gender bias?
Holding of a viewpoint, idea or stereotype which persistently benefit one gender over the other.
What are the 2 types of gender bias and who were they proposed by?
Why do they exist?
Hare Mustin and Marecek.
Alpha bias - exaggerating the differences between men and women which could lead to gender stereotypes.
Beta bias - exaggerating the end men and women ignoring important differences.
Exist because of androcentric views being used as the norm to explain all.
Beta bias tend to favour the male perspective.
Alpha biased see women studies as unusual or deviant when their behaviours are not the same as men.
What psychologist shows alpha bias?
What methodological issues are there?
What consequences did this have?
Context of their research?
Freud - viewed femininity as failed masculinity. Women were less morally mature than men (superegos less developed due to no castration anxiety). Shows alpna bias as shows the difference between males and females in moral development.
Freud uses qualitative method like case studies, subjective due to his own ideas. Could be dismissed as simply wrong.
Consequences - reinforced stereotypes of womens moral inferiority which delayed changes of women in society.
Context - born in 1856, women weren’t given write to vote until 1918. May be viewed different today.
What study aimed to study differences between sexes?
What did they find?
Main differences?
What possible positive implications could this have?
Bias?
Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Jacklin carried out a meta analysis, reviewing 1500 studies looking at psychological and physical sex differences.
Most variables found no significant differences between males and females.
Concluded that many of the sex differences expected could be explained by societal stereotypes rather than evidence.
4 main differences:
- females greater verbal ability
- males greater visual and spatial abilities.
- males greater arithmetical abilities during teen years.
- females less aggressive.
Therapies could respond differently to males and females. Use alternatives for male for cbt. High use of cbt could explain high suicidal rate in men.
Alpha bias - over exaggerating differences.
Where did psychology begin?
Equal voting rights?
What does this suggest?
Male and female role were defined with what notion?
Who pointed something out about the earliest days of psychology?
Psychology is said to have begun with Wilhelm Wundt in 1879.
Equal voting rights in 1928.
At least half a century the study of psychology was taking place in a setting which actively devalued the contributions of women and ignored their views.
‘Separate spheres’ - idea that men and women inhabited very different worlds and therefore could not partake or comment on the world of the other.
Jackson - discrimination against women was overt - simply banned from participating.
What evidence is there that women are no longer banned from psychology?
What can be said in terms of social context?
Research? Social implications?
Bonnie Strickland - 1/3 of all psychologists and 50% gaining PhD are female in 1987.
Continued to increase.
Society is patriarchal. Stereotypes exist to preserve male hegemony or dominance over women.
Corinne Moss Racusin et al - job applicants with name Jennifer less competent than the name John.
Sexism is a modern problem. Stereotypes of men and women still exist today.
What is heterosexism?
Discrimination against homosexuals based on the assumption that heterosexuality is the only or correct sexual orientation.
Why is heterosexism an issue ?
Celia Kitzinger - ‘homosexuality hardly ever featured in undergraduate psychology courses’ - become ignored and so human relationships lack validity as it only considers heterosexual relationships.
Reinforces gender role stereotypes of male and female. It also legitimises heterosexual relationships while ignoring other sexual identities like homosexuality.
Eagly and wood - males and females experience different selective pressures. Men value fertility, females value resources.
What’s Trivers theory and what does it claim?
What does this mean for males?
Trivers parental investment theory - females invest more time and energy into bringing a child into the world. Females should be more picky.
best for males to have many sexual partners and avoid commitment.
Is heterosexism reducing?
Kitizinger and coyle - homosexuality gone through 3 stages:
- heterosexual bias = heterosexuality is more natural and superior
- liberal humanism = homosexual and heterosexual couples have an underlying similarity
- liberal humanism plus = increased recognition of specific characteristics of gay and lesbian relations.
Currently in 3rd phase.
