AQA A Level Psychology Paper 3
4.3 Issues and options in Psychology
Topic: Issues and Debates
All 16 marker topic essays
1) Gender bias (16)
Gender bias in psychological research undermines psychologists’ claims to
universality - that conclusions drawn can be applied to everyone, everywhere
at all times. Gender bias comes in two forms; alpha bias and beta bias. Alpha
bias occurs when differences between males and females are exaggerated in
research or conclusions, most often undermining women in relation to men.
An example of alpha bias in psychology comes from Freud’s psychodynamic
approach, in which he theorises that women are less moral than men because
they identify less strongly with their same-sex parent in the phallic stage. Beta
bias in psychological research is when differences between men and women
are ignored or undermined in research or conclusions. For example, the
classic view of the fight or flight response suffers from beta bias as research
favours using male animals due to hormonal changes in women. For example,
because females produce more oxytocin, Taylor proposed that they show a
‘tend and befriend’ response rather than fight or flight. Alpha and beta bias are
both the result of androcentrism, which is the idea that over the years
psychology has been a male-dominated study, with only 6 of the 100 most
influential psychologists being women. Psychology has traditionally been a
subject produced by men, for men and about men.
A limitation of gender biassed research in psychology is that it tends to
perpetuate invalid findings as fact. For example, Maccoby and Jacklin
presented findings of several gender studies which showed that girls have
better verbal ability whilst boys have superior spatial ability, and suggested
that these differences are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth. Joel et al.
have since used scanning techniques to show that no such biological
differences actually exist, and suggested that findings like Maccoby and
Jacklin’s are popularised and accepted only because they fit existing
stereotypes. This shows how gender biassed research, even if it is incorrect,
can be used to perpetuate stereotypes that may be harmful. However,
criticisms like this risk discourage studies into gender differences, when they
are actually very important. Ingalhalikar Suggests that the stereotype of
, women being able to multitask better than men may have some scientific truth
to it, due to differences in neural connections. This suggests that biological
differences between men and women should be studied in order to provide
useful insight into gender differences.
Another limitation is that gender bias promotes sexism in the research
process. Women always have been and still are underrepresented in
university departments in psychological studies. Although the majority of
undergraduates in psychology are females, males are significantly more likely
to be appointed as lecturers. This means that researchers are much more
likely to be men, which may disadvantage participants who are women. For
example, male researchers may have preconceptions about women being
irrational that influence their research. This may lead to any findings being
biassed, and further perpetuating stereotypes. This means that long standing
institutional structures are likely to lead to gender-based research. The
implications of such research are wide-reaching and harmful. For example,
due to men being presented as the norm in psychological research, it
‘becomes normal for women to feel abnormal’, which is highly socially
sensitive and damaging to the self-image of women.
A further limitation of gender-biassed research is that research challenging
these biases in psychology is less likely to be published. Formanowicz et al.
analysed over 1000 studies relating to gender bias and found that they were
funded less often and were significantly less likely to be published by
prestigious journals, when compared with other forms of bias such as culture
bias. This suggests that gender bias in psychological research is taken less
seriously than other forms of bias, meaning that it occurs more often and has
a large impact on research. However, many modern researchers now
acknowledge the role of their own gender biases in their research (reflexivity),
which has led to an improvement in gender biassed research. This suggests
that developments in psychology are taking place to reduce the effects of
gender bias.
4.3 Issues and options in Psychology
Topic: Issues and Debates
All 16 marker topic essays
1) Gender bias (16)
Gender bias in psychological research undermines psychologists’ claims to
universality - that conclusions drawn can be applied to everyone, everywhere
at all times. Gender bias comes in two forms; alpha bias and beta bias. Alpha
bias occurs when differences between males and females are exaggerated in
research or conclusions, most often undermining women in relation to men.
An example of alpha bias in psychology comes from Freud’s psychodynamic
approach, in which he theorises that women are less moral than men because
they identify less strongly with their same-sex parent in the phallic stage. Beta
bias in psychological research is when differences between men and women
are ignored or undermined in research or conclusions. For example, the
classic view of the fight or flight response suffers from beta bias as research
favours using male animals due to hormonal changes in women. For example,
because females produce more oxytocin, Taylor proposed that they show a
‘tend and befriend’ response rather than fight or flight. Alpha and beta bias are
both the result of androcentrism, which is the idea that over the years
psychology has been a male-dominated study, with only 6 of the 100 most
influential psychologists being women. Psychology has traditionally been a
subject produced by men, for men and about men.
A limitation of gender biassed research in psychology is that it tends to
perpetuate invalid findings as fact. For example, Maccoby and Jacklin
presented findings of several gender studies which showed that girls have
better verbal ability whilst boys have superior spatial ability, and suggested
that these differences are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth. Joel et al.
have since used scanning techniques to show that no such biological
differences actually exist, and suggested that findings like Maccoby and
Jacklin’s are popularised and accepted only because they fit existing
stereotypes. This shows how gender biassed research, even if it is incorrect,
can be used to perpetuate stereotypes that may be harmful. However,
criticisms like this risk discourage studies into gender differences, when they
are actually very important. Ingalhalikar Suggests that the stereotype of
, women being able to multitask better than men may have some scientific truth
to it, due to differences in neural connections. This suggests that biological
differences between men and women should be studied in order to provide
useful insight into gender differences.
Another limitation is that gender bias promotes sexism in the research
process. Women always have been and still are underrepresented in
university departments in psychological studies. Although the majority of
undergraduates in psychology are females, males are significantly more likely
to be appointed as lecturers. This means that researchers are much more
likely to be men, which may disadvantage participants who are women. For
example, male researchers may have preconceptions about women being
irrational that influence their research. This may lead to any findings being
biassed, and further perpetuating stereotypes. This means that long standing
institutional structures are likely to lead to gender-based research. The
implications of such research are wide-reaching and harmful. For example,
due to men being presented as the norm in psychological research, it
‘becomes normal for women to feel abnormal’, which is highly socially
sensitive and damaging to the self-image of women.
A further limitation of gender-biassed research is that research challenging
these biases in psychology is less likely to be published. Formanowicz et al.
analysed over 1000 studies relating to gender bias and found that they were
funded less often and were significantly less likely to be published by
prestigious journals, when compared with other forms of bias such as culture
bias. This suggests that gender bias in psychological research is taken less
seriously than other forms of bias, meaning that it occurs more often and has
a large impact on research. However, many modern researchers now
acknowledge the role of their own gender biases in their research (reflexivity),
which has led to an improvement in gender biassed research. This suggests
that developments in psychology are taking place to reduce the effects of
gender bias.
