Gender bias

Question 1

Define gender bias

Answer 1

Gender bias – The differential representation of men & women based on stereotypes rather than real difference.
* historically psychology has been a male dominated disipline & the charge is that many of its major theories & explanations support this ,
* male bias has been so endemic in research practice of psychology that female voice has been marginalised, minimised & judged as abnormal against male standard

Bias is a tendancy to treat one individual or a group in a different way from others

Question 2

Outline alpha bias

cotton et al

example is sz

Answer 2

when theories have tendency to exaggerate differences between men & women, suggesting there are real & enduring differences between two sexes. The consequences
are that theories devalue one gender in comparison to the other, but typically devalue
women.
e.g of alpha bias:
3. since 1980s, SZ has been diagnosed more frequently in men compared to women,
whereas before this time there had been no significant differences.
this is e.g of alpha bias, according to Cotton et al, because women
are more likely to be able to continue working, maintain good interpersonal
relationships & show less distress than men.
means that the SZ symptoms of women may be masked or not severe enough to merit a diagnosis.**

Question 3

A01

Outline beta bias

Kohlbergs level of moral reasoning example

Answer 3

Beta bias – A tendency to ignore or minimise differences between men & women.
Such theories tend to ignore qs about lives of women,
often occurs when female p are not included as part of research process & assumed research findings will apply equally to both sexes
e.g of beta bias
. Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning, was developed on the basis of studying groups of American males, who all answered questions based on moral dilemmas e.g.
the Heinz dilemma. These results were then generalised, he claimed his principlles were universal & represented moral reasonng for both males & females

this is important use this ( to refer to universality)below
These biases obscure the central aim of psychology which is to generate theories that have universality and apply to all people.

Question 4

Outline Androcentrism

e.g beta bias is flight or fight

Answer 4

Androcentrism - is The consequence of beta bias and occurs when all behaviour is compared according to a ‘male’ standard, often neglecting or excluding women.
its when behaviour is judged according to a male standard( means female behaviour is judged as abnormal or deficient by comparison)
An example of beta
bias is research on fight or flight, research is usually conducted with male animals as in
females the variation in hormone levels would make research more difficult – it has been assumed that only male samples are needed as what is true for males is true for females,

Question 5

A03

Implications of gender bias-tarvis

Limitation

Answer 5

Gender biased research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, failing to challenge negative stereotypes.
* Gender biased research may provide a scientific justification to deny women opportunitiy within work place or wider society.
in any domain where men set the standard of normalcy ‘it becomes normal for women to feel abnormal’( Tavris)
thus gender bias in research is not just methedological problem but has damaging consequences which affects lives of women.

Question 6

A03

Strength of gender bias research is that there is reflexivity

Answer 6

rather than seeing bias as a probelm that can threaten objecitivity of research, research embrace it as a crucial aspect of research process
* this is beneficial as modern researchers are beginning to realsie there own values & assumptions are having effects on research
thus reflexivity is important development in psychology can lead to greater awareness of role of personal biases in helping research