ISSUES & DEBATES
Gender bias
^ - when considering human behaviour, bias is a tendency to treat an individual or group in a
different way from others. In the context of gender bias, psychological research or theory
may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or
women.
Universality - any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied
to all, despite any differences in experiences and upbringing. Gender bias threatens the
universality of findings in psychology.
Alpha bias
– research that focuses on differences between men and women, and therefore tends to
present a view that exaggerates these differences.
A classic example of alpha bias is Freud’s theory of psychosexual development. During the
phallic stage, boys and girls develop a desire for their opposite-gender parent. In a boy, he
gets very strong castration anxiety, but this is resolved when the boy identifies with his
father. A girl’s eventual identification with her mother is weaker, making her superego
weaker. Therefore, girls are morally inferior to boys.
Alpha bias can sometimes favour women; Chodorow suggested that daughters and mothers
have a greater connectedness than sons and mothers due to biological similarities and as a
result of the child’s closeness, women develop better abilities to bond and empathise with
others.
Beta bias
- research that focuses on similarities between men and women, and therefore tends to
present a view that ignores or minimises differences. This happens when we assume that
research findings apply equally to men and women, even when women have been excluded
from the research process.
One example is research on fight or flight. Biological research has generally favoured using
male animals because female behaviour is affected by regular hormonal changes due to
ovulation. This simply ignores and possible differences.
More recently, Taylor et al claimed this is not true and described a ‘tend and befriend’
response. Oxytocin is more plentiful in women and it seems that women respond to stress
by increasing oxytocin production, reducing the fight or flight response and enhances a
preference to tend and befriend.
This shows how research that minimises gender differences may result in a
misrepresentation of women’s behaviour (and sometimes men’s).
Androcentrism
– male-centred, when ‘normal behaviour’ is judged according to a male standard.
Psychology has presented a male-dominated version of the world and has traditionally been
a subject produced by men, for men and about men. Women’s behaviour, when considered,
is often misunderstood and at worst, pathologized. Feminists have objected to the diagnostic
category PMS, on the grounds that it medicalises women’s emotions, e.g., anger, by
explaining these in hormonal terms, while men’s anger is often seen as a rational response
to external pressures.
, BIOLOGICAL VS SOCIAL EXPLANATIONS
Gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring when they are not. Maccoby
and Jacklin presented findings of several gender studies, concluding that girls have superior
verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability. They suggested that these differences
are hardwired into the brain before birth. However, Joel et al used brain scanning and found
no such sex differences in brain structure or processing. It is possible that data from M&J
was popularised as it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as ‘speakers’ and boys as ‘doers’.
C/A: This does not mean that psychologists should avoid studying possible gender
differences in the brain. Some studies suggest that the popular social stereotype that
women are better at multi-tasking may have some biological truth to it. A woman’s brain
may benefit from better connections between the right and left hemisphere than in a man’s
brain, so while there may be a biological difference, we should still be wary of exaggerating
the effect it has on our behaviour.
SEXISM IN RESEARCH
Women remain underrepresented in university science departments. Although psychology’s
undergraduate intake is mostly women, lecturers in psychology tend to be men, meaning
research is more likely to be conducted by men and this may disadvantage female
participants. For example, a male researcher may expect women to be irrational and unable
to complete complex tasks and such expectations are likely to mean that women
underperform. The institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce gender-
biased findings.
GENDER-BIASED RESEARCH
Research challenging gender biases may not be published. Psychologists analysed more than
1000 articles relating to gender bias, published over 8 years and found that research on
gender bias is funded less often and published by less prestigious journals. The consequence
of this is that fewer scholars become aware of it or apply it within their own work. The
researchers argued that this still held true when gender bias was compared with other forms
of bias (e.g., ethnic) and when other factors were controlled, such as the gender of the
author(s) and the methodology used. This shows that gender bias in psychological research
may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
UNDERSTANDING BIAS
Gender-biased research can create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to
challenge negative stereotypes and validate discriminatory practises. ‘It becomes normal for
women to feel abnormal’. Thus, gender bias in research is not just a methodological problem
but may have damaging consequences on the lives and prospects of women.
Many modern researchers now recognise the effect their values and assumptions have on
the nature of their work and rather than seeing bias as a problem that may threaten the
objective status of their work, they embrace it as a crucial aspect of the research process.
Gender bias
^ - when considering human behaviour, bias is a tendency to treat an individual or group in a
different way from others. In the context of gender bias, psychological research or theory
may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or
women.
Universality - any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied
to all, despite any differences in experiences and upbringing. Gender bias threatens the
universality of findings in psychology.
Alpha bias
– research that focuses on differences between men and women, and therefore tends to
present a view that exaggerates these differences.
A classic example of alpha bias is Freud’s theory of psychosexual development. During the
phallic stage, boys and girls develop a desire for their opposite-gender parent. In a boy, he
gets very strong castration anxiety, but this is resolved when the boy identifies with his
father. A girl’s eventual identification with her mother is weaker, making her superego
weaker. Therefore, girls are morally inferior to boys.
Alpha bias can sometimes favour women; Chodorow suggested that daughters and mothers
have a greater connectedness than sons and mothers due to biological similarities and as a
result of the child’s closeness, women develop better abilities to bond and empathise with
others.
Beta bias
- research that focuses on similarities between men and women, and therefore tends to
present a view that ignores or minimises differences. This happens when we assume that
research findings apply equally to men and women, even when women have been excluded
from the research process.
One example is research on fight or flight. Biological research has generally favoured using
male animals because female behaviour is affected by regular hormonal changes due to
ovulation. This simply ignores and possible differences.
More recently, Taylor et al claimed this is not true and described a ‘tend and befriend’
response. Oxytocin is more plentiful in women and it seems that women respond to stress
by increasing oxytocin production, reducing the fight or flight response and enhances a
preference to tend and befriend.
This shows how research that minimises gender differences may result in a
misrepresentation of women’s behaviour (and sometimes men’s).
Androcentrism
– male-centred, when ‘normal behaviour’ is judged according to a male standard.
Psychology has presented a male-dominated version of the world and has traditionally been
a subject produced by men, for men and about men. Women’s behaviour, when considered,
is often misunderstood and at worst, pathologized. Feminists have objected to the diagnostic
category PMS, on the grounds that it medicalises women’s emotions, e.g., anger, by
explaining these in hormonal terms, while men’s anger is often seen as a rational response
to external pressures.
, BIOLOGICAL VS SOCIAL EXPLANATIONS
Gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring when they are not. Maccoby
and Jacklin presented findings of several gender studies, concluding that girls have superior
verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability. They suggested that these differences
are hardwired into the brain before birth. However, Joel et al used brain scanning and found
no such sex differences in brain structure or processing. It is possible that data from M&J
was popularised as it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as ‘speakers’ and boys as ‘doers’.
C/A: This does not mean that psychologists should avoid studying possible gender
differences in the brain. Some studies suggest that the popular social stereotype that
women are better at multi-tasking may have some biological truth to it. A woman’s brain
may benefit from better connections between the right and left hemisphere than in a man’s
brain, so while there may be a biological difference, we should still be wary of exaggerating
the effect it has on our behaviour.
SEXISM IN RESEARCH
Women remain underrepresented in university science departments. Although psychology’s
undergraduate intake is mostly women, lecturers in psychology tend to be men, meaning
research is more likely to be conducted by men and this may disadvantage female
participants. For example, a male researcher may expect women to be irrational and unable
to complete complex tasks and such expectations are likely to mean that women
underperform. The institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce gender-
biased findings.
GENDER-BIASED RESEARCH
Research challenging gender biases may not be published. Psychologists analysed more than
1000 articles relating to gender bias, published over 8 years and found that research on
gender bias is funded less often and published by less prestigious journals. The consequence
of this is that fewer scholars become aware of it or apply it within their own work. The
researchers argued that this still held true when gender bias was compared with other forms
of bias (e.g., ethnic) and when other factors were controlled, such as the gender of the
author(s) and the methodology used. This shows that gender bias in psychological research
may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
UNDERSTANDING BIAS
Gender-biased research can create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to
challenge negative stereotypes and validate discriminatory practises. ‘It becomes normal for
women to feel abnormal’. Thus, gender bias in research is not just a methodological problem
but may have damaging consequences on the lives and prospects of women.
Many modern researchers now recognise the effect their values and assumptions have on
the nature of their work and rather than seeing bias as a problem that may threaten the
objective status of their work, they embrace it as a crucial aspect of the research process.
