Gender Bias

Androcentrism:

• Psychology has a history of bias towards males. This bias stems from Androcentrism: Having a male-centred view of the world in which only males matter

• Studies that are carried out on men only and the results are considered to be valid for both genders

• Differences are either ignored or considered to be of no value

• Example: Freud’s work was only ever centred on males. The Oedipus complex is about boys fearing castration by their father

Estrocentrism:

• The female equivalent of penis envy is also centred on the father, as it refers to a girl’s desire for her father and the belief that she has already castrated

• However, Freud lived in an extremely male-dominated time

Different Types of Gender Bias:

• Alpha Bias:

  • Alpha bias is where differences between males and females are exaggerated

  • This type of bias can be used to undervalue one of the sexes

  • The differences are sometimes attributed to differences in biology, for example, differences in genetics or hormones

• Beta Bias:

  • Beta Bias is where differences between males and females are minimised or ignored

  • This can happen when studies just include participants of one gender, but then the conclusions are applied to the whole population

Examples of Gender Bias:

• Alpha Bias:

  • Freud’s theory reflects the culture in which he lived. In the 19th century, men were more powerful and educated, and so were regarded as superior to women

  • In his Alpha-biased theory of psychoanalysis, Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity. He exaggerated the difference between men and women

• Beta Bias:

  • Assuming what is true for men is also true for women

  • The needs of one gender (usually women) are ignored, but also, for example, in research into anorexia, men are ignored, and most research concentrates on females, despite it being a growing problem for men

  • For example, in stress research, it was assumed that the fight or flight response was universal

  • However, Shelley et al (2000) found that women produced a tend and befriend response at times of stress, which is adaptive because it ensures the survival of their offspring

  • So an important difference was ignored (minimised)

Kohlberg (1969):

• Kohlberg produced a very influential theory of moral development that suggested that moral decisions are based on an ethic of justice

• This was based on research on men and boys (Androcentric) and assumed the responses could be applied to all people (Beta-Bias) (Minimise difference)

• When Kohlberg tested women, he found that they were less morally developed than men. (A classic outcome of Alpha Bias (Exaggerate Difference)

• Therefore, his original Beta bias meant that he now exaggerated the differences between men and women (Alpha Bias)

Gilligan (1982):

• Gilligan’s research showed that women favoured a care orientation and showed that men and women are different, but it is not biased because neither kind of moral reasoning was considered better; They are just different

• Men’s morality evolves around justice, while women’s morality is based on care

Universality:

• Universality is the aim of developing theories that apply to all people

  • But it would be wrong to eradicate gender differences as a way to resolve gender bias, which in itself is a beta bias

  • The solution lies in recognising differences but not the superiority of one gender over the other

• For example, Gilligan’s research into morality

Some research designs can make gender bias more likely:

1. When a research question is first proposed and an aim is formed, psychologists need to be careful that they're not unconsciously including any gender stereotypes. For example, studies on aggression often use male stereotypes to provide a measure of what it means to be aggressive.

2. Participants for research should be selected in a non-biased way. Many early studies in psychology only used male university students, and this could have had the effect of producing beta-biased theories. They would have been based on results from males but generalised to the whole population.

3. Researchers can sometimes unconsciously treat male and female participants differently during a study. To avoid this, they should make sure that male and female participants are spoken to in the same manner. If participants are treated differently, the researchers will introduce extraneous variables that may produce a false gender difference in the results that isn't actually there.

4. Researchers should be aware that gender stereotypes can affect their expectations about the outcomes of research. These expectations can affect the results that they record or the way that they interpret their results. For example, in an observational study comparing men and women, researchers should be careful not to just record behaviours that fit in with their ideas about how men and women should behave. They also shouldn't be led to interpret their results to show a gender difference that isn't actually there.

Which theories show gender bias?

• Freud’s Theories:

  • Freud's theories usually described male behaviour as the norm, explaining female behaviour as anything which differed from the norm. For example, Freud proposed that when girls find out that they don't have a penis, they suffer from what he termed 'penis envy'

• Asch’s Theory:

  • Asch's research into conformity was androcentric — he used a male-only sample, meaning that his results couldn't be generalised to women.

• Bem’s Theory:

  • Bem's (1974) theory of psychological androgyny is a beta-biased theory. Her theory centres on the idea that the most psychologically healthy men and women can choose which personality traits they want to have, regardless of whether they're typically masculine or feminine qualities.

  • In other words, she classed the various masculine and feminine traits as all being on a level playing field. This is why the theory is beta biased. It ignores the fact that different traits are valued differently in society - for example, a lot of masculine traits are valued highly.

Which study is androcentric?

• Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development:

  • It was primarily based on research conducted with male subjects, leading to a theory that largely reflects male perspectives on morality. This focus on male moral reasoning has led to accusations of bias, as Carol Gilligan argued that the theory doesn't adequately capture the moral reasoning of women, who may approach moral dilemmas with a focus on care and relationships rather than justice.