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Discuss gender bias in psychological research –
A01 –
Bias definition
Alpha (Freud) and beta (fight or flight) definition
Cause– androcentrism
A03 –
- Presented as fixed
- Promotes sexism
- Gender-biased research
A psychologists personal beliefs may be biased and leaning towards a
subjective view that is not necessarily reflective of objective reality. In
terms of gender this can be divided into 2 main types of bias, alpha and
beta.
Alpha bias is where research exaggerates the differences between sexes.
These differences are often presented as fixed and inevitable, and they
usually devalue females. A classic example is work by Freud and his
theory of psychosexual stages, during the phallic stage both boys and
girls develop a desire for there opposite sex parent. In boys this creates a
very strong castration anxiety, however this is gone 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. Therefore the
female sex can be deemed to be morally inferior.
Beta bias is where research ignores or underestimates differences
between sexes, this happens when we assume that research findings
apply equally to both sexes even when one sex has been have been
excluded in the research process. One example is research into the fight
or flight response, research into this field has favoured using males as
female behaviour is affected by regular hormonal changes due to
ovulation. Therefore this theory ignores any possible differences.
However, more recently it has been found that women have an alternate
response of ‘tend and befriend’ this is because the love hormone oxytocin
is more plentiful in females. In high stress situations oxytocin production is
increases, therefore reducing the fight or flight response and increases the
‘tend and befriend’. This illustrates how research hat minimises gender
differences may result in a misinterpretation of female behaviour.
One weakness is that gender differences (alpha bias) are often presented
as fixed and enduring when they are not. One study presented findings
from several gender studies which concluded that girls have superior
verbal ability where as boys have better spatial ability, claiming that these
differences are hardwired. These findings are often presented as facts, but
when using brain scans no such differences were found. Therefore it could
be argued that the early findings were accepted as they fitted with the
already existing gender stereotypes. This suggest that we should be wary
of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be
, better explained as social stereotypes. This suggests that we should be
wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be
better explained as social stereotypes.
However, this does not mean that psychologists should avoid studying
possible gender differences. For instance research has found that the
popular stereotype that females are better at multitasking may have
some biological truth. It seems that a women’s brain may benefit from
better connections between the right and left hemispheres. This suggests
that there may be biological differences but we should still be wary of
exaggerating of exaggerating the effect they may have on behaviour.
Another limitation is that gender bias promotes sexism in the research
process. Women remain underrepresented in university departments, and
as lecturers. This means that research is more likely to be conducted by
males and may disadvantage female participants. For example, a male
researcher may expect females to be irrational and unable to complete
complex tasks such expectations are likely to mean that females
participants underperform in research studies. This means that the
institutional nature of psychology may produce findings that are gender
biased.
A further limitation is that gender biases may not be published, in an
analysis of over 1000 articles relating to gender bias. They found that
research on gender bias is funded less and often published by less
prestigious journals. This consequence of this is that fewer scholars
become aware of it or apply it within there own work. This held true when
compared to other forms of bias such as cultural bias. This suggest that
gender bias in psychology may not be taken as seriously as other forms of
bias.
Discuss cultural bias in psychology. Refer to examples in your
research -
Culture bias is an issue within psychology, which occurs when researchers interpret
all phenomena through the "lens" of their own culture, ignoring the effects that
cultural differences might have on behaviour. One specific type of culture bias is
ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is when researchers tend to judge the world through
their own cultural perspective assuming that their own culture is both normal, and
therefore correct. It is a lack of awareness for other cultural perspectives which may
be perfectly valid. In its extreme form is the belief in the superiority of one's own
culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures. One
example of ethnocentrism is in Ainsworth's Strange Situation. Many researchers
assumed that this measure of attachment would be transferable to children in other
cultures, which led to a misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries
which were seen to deviate from American norms e.g. Japan. Cultural relativism on
the other hand is the opposite of ethnocentrism and argues that behaviour can only
be understood properly when it is studied within cultural context in which it occurs.
Without being in that culture we might start making inferences that are not
necessarily true, just based on belief.
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