Gender Bias Flashcards
(12 cards)
1
Q
Gender Bias
Bias and Universality
A
- Psychologists hold beliefs and values influenced by social contexts they live in.
- These beliefs can lead to bias which can affect the research process.
- It can undermine Psychology’s claim to universality.
- There are two types of bias in research.
2
Q
Gender Bias
Alpha Bias
Description
A
- Differences between males and females can be exaggerated.
- Sometimes it heightens women, but often it devalues women in comparison to men.
3
Q
Gender Bias
Alpha Bias
Topic Link
A
- Freud’s psychosexual theory suggests both boys and girls develop a desire for their opposite-sex parent.
- In boys this creates castration anxiety, which is resolved by identifying with his father.
- However, a girl’s eventual identification is weaker and so her superego is weaker.
- This suggests women are morally inferior to men.
4
Q
Gender Bias
Alpha Bias
Female superiority
A
- Some psychodynamic research favours women.
- Chodorow (1968) suggest girls have greater connectedness with their mothers due to biological similarities.
- As a result, women develop better abilities to empathise and bond with others.
5
Q
Gender Bias
Beta Bias
Description
A
- Psychological reseach which underestimates differences between men and women.
- Women are often excluded from excluded from research and generalisation are made based on research conducted on men.
6
Q
Gender Bias
Beta Bias
Topic Link
A
- Biological research often favours males because female behaviour is affected my regular hormonal changes.
- So research into fight or flight was conducted on male animals and ignores any possible differences, assuming female have the same response.
- However, Taylor (2000) described “tend and befriend” because women respond to stress by increasing oxytocin production.
- This reduces fight or flight and enhances the evolved response to care for others.
7
Q
Gender Bias
Beta Bias
Males underrepresented
A
- Research can also misrepresent men.
- Attachment research assumed emotional care is solely the role of the mother.
- But research on the role of the father showed fathers can supply the same emotional care.
8
Q
Gender Bias
Androcentrism
Description
A
- Alpha and beta bias are often consequences of androcentrism.
- The top 100 most influencial psychologists featured only six women.
- This suggests that as psychology is produced by men, for men and about men - an androcentric perspective.
9
Q
Gender Bias
Androcentrism
Example
A
- Women’s behaviour is often misunderstood and pathologised.
- Pre-menstrual Syndrome (PMS) medicalises female emotions by explaining it in hormonal terms.
- However, males aggression is explained as a rational response to external pressures.
10
Q
Gender Bias: Evaluation
Biological vs Social Explanations
Limitation
A
- Gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring when they are not.
- Several gender studies showed that females have better verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability.
- These studies were widely seen as facts likely because it fit existing stereotypes.
- However, recent research using brain scans found no such differences in brain processing.
This means we should be wary of accepting researching findings as biological facts that may be explained better as social stereotypes
11
Q
Gender Bias: Evaluation
Sexism in Research
Limitation
A
- Gender bias promotes sexism in the research process.
- The majority of lecturers in psychology are male and so research is more likely to be conducted by men.
- This may disadvantage participants who are women because the researcher might expect them to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks.
- These expectations may mean women underperform in research studies.
This means the institutional structures of psychological research may produce finding that are gender-biased
12
Q
Gender Bias: Evaluation
Gender-biased publishing
Limitation
A
- Research challenging gender biases may not be published.
- Research into gender bias is funded less often and published less by prestigious journals.
- This means scholars are less aware of how to apply it in their own work.
- Even compared to other forms of bias, gender bias is not taken as seriously.
This suggests that gender bias is not taken as seriously as other forms of bias
