Discuss gender bias in psychology (16 marks)
A01: • Psychological research may offer a view that does justifiably represent the experience and
behaviour of men or women.
• Universality- any underlying characteristic of human beings that’s capable of being applied
to all, despite differences in experience and upbringing. Gender bias threatens the univer-
sality of findings in psychology.
• Gender bias comes in 2 forms: alpha and beta bias
1) Alpha bias- Psychological research that exaggerates differences is alpha biased. Such dif-
ferences are presented as fixed and inevitable and often they devalue females in relation
to males. An example of alpha bias is Freud’s theory of psychosexual development. During
the phallic stage of development both boys and girls develop a desire for the opposite sex
parent. In a boy this creates castration anxiety. This anxiety is resolved when the boy
identifies with his father. But a girls eventual identification, with her same sex parent is
weaker, which means her superego is weaker, presenting girls as morally inferior to men.
Alpha bias can sometimes favour women in the psychodynamic approach. Nancy
Chodorow suggested that daughters and mothers have a greater connection than sons
and mothers because of biological similarities. As a result of closeness women develop
better abilities to bond with others and empathise.
2) Beta bias- Psychological research that ignores or underestimates the differences is beta
biased. This happens when we assume that research findings apply equally to both sexes
when for example females have been excluded from the research process.
- An example of research that has misrepresented males: research on attachment that as-
sumed that emotional care is provided solely by mothers. But research on the role of fa-
thers shows that fathers can supply emotional care.
- An example of research that misrepresents females: research on the flight or flight re-
sponse. Biological research has generally favoured using male animals because female be-
haviour is affected by regular hormonal changes. This ignores any possible differences.
• Androcentrism: when normal behaviour is judged according to a male standard, meaning fe-
male behaviour is judged to be abnormal by comparison. For example the American psycho-
logical Association published a list of 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century
which included only 6 women. This suggests that psychology has traditionally been a sub-
ject produced by males, for males and about males.
A03: • LIMITATION- Gender differences are often presented as fixed and endur-
ing when they’re not. Maccoby and Jacklin presented the findings of several
gender studies which concluded that girls have superior verbal ability and boys
have better spatial ability. They suggested these were hardwired into the brain
before birth. Joel used brain scanning and found no such gender differences in
brain structure. This suggests we should be wary of accepting research findings
as biological facts when they might be explained better as social stereotypes.
• COUNTERPOINT- This does not mean psychologists should avoid studying
possible gender differences in the brain. Research by Mandura suggests
that the popular social stereotype that females are better at multitasking may
have biological truth. A women’s brain may benefit from better connections be-
tween left and right hemisphere than a mans brain. There may be biological dif-
ferences.
• LIMITATION- Gender bias promotes sexism in the research process. Lec-
tures in psychology departments are more likely to be males. This means re-
search is more likely to be conducted by males and this may disadvantage fe-
male participants. Male researchers may expect females to be irrational and un-
able to complete complex tasks so female participants are likely to underper-
form. Methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender bias.
• LIMITATION- Research challenging gender bias may not be published. For-
manowicz analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias. They found
that research on gender bias is funded less often and is published by less presti-
gious journals so fewer scholars are aware of it. Thus suggests that gender bias
in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
,
A01: • Psychological research may offer a view that does justifiably represent the experience and
behaviour of men or women.
• Universality- any underlying characteristic of human beings that’s capable of being applied
to all, despite differences in experience and upbringing. Gender bias threatens the univer-
sality of findings in psychology.
• Gender bias comes in 2 forms: alpha and beta bias
1) Alpha bias- Psychological research that exaggerates differences is alpha biased. Such dif-
ferences are presented as fixed and inevitable and often they devalue females in relation
to males. An example of alpha bias is Freud’s theory of psychosexual development. During
the phallic stage of development both boys and girls develop a desire for the opposite sex
parent. In a boy this creates castration anxiety. This anxiety is resolved when the boy
identifies with his father. But a girls eventual identification, with her same sex parent is
weaker, which means her superego is weaker, presenting girls as morally inferior to men.
Alpha bias can sometimes favour women in the psychodynamic approach. Nancy
Chodorow suggested that daughters and mothers have a greater connection than sons
and mothers because of biological similarities. As a result of closeness women develop
better abilities to bond with others and empathise.
2) Beta bias- Psychological research that ignores or underestimates the differences is beta
biased. This happens when we assume that research findings apply equally to both sexes
when for example females have been excluded from the research process.
- An example of research that has misrepresented males: research on attachment that as-
sumed that emotional care is provided solely by mothers. But research on the role of fa-
thers shows that fathers can supply emotional care.
- An example of research that misrepresents females: research on the flight or flight re-
sponse. Biological research has generally favoured using male animals because female be-
haviour is affected by regular hormonal changes. This ignores any possible differences.
• Androcentrism: when normal behaviour is judged according to a male standard, meaning fe-
male behaviour is judged to be abnormal by comparison. For example the American psycho-
logical Association published a list of 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century
which included only 6 women. This suggests that psychology has traditionally been a sub-
ject produced by males, for males and about males.
A03: • LIMITATION- Gender differences are often presented as fixed and endur-
ing when they’re not. Maccoby and Jacklin presented the findings of several
gender studies which concluded that girls have superior verbal ability and boys
have better spatial ability. They suggested these were hardwired into the brain
before birth. Joel used brain scanning and found no such gender differences in
brain structure. This suggests we should be wary of accepting research findings
as biological facts when they might be explained better as social stereotypes.
• COUNTERPOINT- This does not mean psychologists should avoid studying
possible gender differences in the brain. Research by Mandura suggests
that the popular social stereotype that females are better at multitasking may
have biological truth. A women’s brain may benefit from better connections be-
tween left and right hemisphere than a mans brain. There may be biological dif-
ferences.
• LIMITATION- Gender bias promotes sexism in the research process. Lec-
tures in psychology departments are more likely to be males. This means re-
search is more likely to be conducted by males and this may disadvantage fe-
male participants. Male researchers may expect females to be irrational and un-
able to complete complex tasks so female participants are likely to underper-
form. Methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender bias.
• LIMITATION- Research challenging gender bias may not be published. For-
manowicz analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias. They found
that research on gender bias is funded less often and is published by less presti-
gious journals so fewer scholars are aware of it. Thus suggests that gender bias
in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias.
,
