Gender bias flashcards

P – One limitation of gender bias in psychology is the harm it can cause to women.

E – For example, autism diagnosis research shows that girls are often underdiagnosed because criteria are based mostly on how autism appears in boys.

E – This is an example of beta bias, where researchers assume male and female experiences are the same. As a result, girls may go undiagnosed, missing needed support and increasing their risk of mental health issues. More broadly, both alpha and beta bias produce false knowledge, which can harm women by reinforcing wrong ideas about their abilities and needs. This damages the reputation of psychology as a trustworthy science, making people less likely to believe or use psychological research to make positive social changes.

L – Therefore, gender bias in psychological research can lead to serious social harm, especially for women, and must be carefully addressed to avoid reinforcing inequality.

P – One limitation of alpha bias is that it can also negatively affect men.

E – For instance, Chodorow described women as naturally more caring than men, a view that may seem positive but can also be limiting.

E – This assumption may prevent men from being accepted in caregiving roles like nursing or child-rearing, and can discourage policies like paid paternity leave. It reinforces the stereotype that men are less nurturing or emotionally capable, which limits their career options and affects how society views men’s ability to care for others. Over time, this can contribute to discrimination against men and make it harder to challenge traditional gender roles. These effects show that alpha bias, although it may seem to benefit women, can actually harm both genders by maintaining outdated stereotypes and social barriers.

L – Therefore, alpha bias does not only harm women—it can also create unfair expectations and limitations for men in society.

P – One limitation of androcentrism is that it leads to biased and incomplete understandings of human behaviour.

E – Androcentrism occurs when male experiences are treated as the default, influencing study design, sample selection, and data interpretation—for example, using only male participants or basing theories on male-centered perspectives like Freud’s.

E – This results in a distorted picture of behaviour, where women’s experiences are misrepresented, overlooked, or seen as deviations from the norm. This can cause social harm by creating or reinforcing stereotypes and by shaping policies and practices that disadvantage women. Even though recognising androcentrism allows psychologists to improve research methods—such as including diverse samples—its deep influence shows how much existing psychological knowledge may already be biased.

L – Therefore, androcentrism itself is a major limitation in psychology, as it leads to systematic gender bias and reduces the validity of psychological knowledge.

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