Gender Bias

Universality: Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing. Gender bias and cultural bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology.

Gender Bias: The differential treatment and or representation of males and females based on stereotypes and not real differences

Androcentrism: theories which are centred on, or focused on males

Gynocentrism: Theories which are centred on, or focused on females

Alpha bias: Refers to theories which exaggerate differences between males and females

Beta bias: Refers to theories which ignore or minimise sex differences. These theories often assume that the findings from males can apply to females

Alpha bias example (gender): Freud said that during the phallic stage, boys develop strong castration anxiety which is resolved with their father but a girl’s identification with her mother is weaker so her superego is weaker. Therefore girls are morally inferior to men.

Beta bias example (gender): Fight or flight research has generally favoured using male animals and ignores any differences between the sexes which has resulted in the negligence of the tend and befriend response females usually employ in response to dangerous stimuli.

Androcentrism example (gender): The American Psychological Association published a list of the 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century which only included 6 women

Biological v. Social explanations (Gender): Gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring. Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) presented findings that concluded girls have superior verbal ability and boys have better spatial ability, suggesting these differences are hardwired. However, when brain scans were conducted they found there was no such sex difference in brain structure and the original theory was popularised due to stereotypes.

Sexism in research: Promotes sexism in the research process. Women remain underrepresented in university departments, especially in science and despite women being the majority in psychology undergraduate courses, lecturers are more likely to be men. This means research is more likely to be conducted by men and guided by their stereotyped perception of women.

Gender-biased research: Research challenging gender bias may not be published. Formanowicz analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias published over 8 years and found research on gender bias is funded less often and is published by less prestigious journals. This held true when gender bias research was compared with other forms of bias.

Understanding bias: Gender-bias research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour and validate discriminatory practices. By establishing men as normal, women are made to feel abnormal which can have damaging consequences on the real lives of women. In more modern studies, researchers will acknowledge their biases and embrace them as a crucial aspect of the research process.