Q. “Sexism is an issue that psychology will have to overcome if it is to progress.” With reference to
this statement, discuss the issue of sexism in Psychology. (25 marks)
Sexism is deeply rooted in the field of psychology, defined as prejudice against a person based on
their biological sex. Historically, women are seen as inferior biologically and psychologically.
Stemming from the societal perception of females as inferior, the same sexist beliefs infiltrated
psychology, females were considered inferior in psychology studies or were not included as
participants. Denmark et al (2016) claimed that psychology should be called ‘psychology of men’,
female perspective is ignored. These are the issues of sexism that need to be overcome if psychology
were to progress to a more gender-equal field. Kitzinger (1998) argued that gender differences are
used for various reasons to keep women out of university, jobs, and society. The underrepresentation
of female paved the way for the lack of psychology research done on females. It is evident that
psychology still takes a predominantly male-centred perspective. The recent increase in focus on
females has yet to eliminate the androcentric bias ingrained in psychology. This essay will address the
issues of viewing ‘male as norm’ in psychology, how sexism affects progression and how psychology
has developed from Freudian theories to the rise of feminist research.
Sexism can be in the form of an over exaggeration or understatement of gender differences. This
hinders the progression of psychology and is still present in psychological research as alpha and beta
biases. Alpha bias uses gender differences to establish male superiority, psychological theories
implied inferiority for the female population. Freud’s (1925) Theory of Psychosexual Development
portrayed women to be morally inferior to men. Women undergo the Electra complex in their
childhood, unlike the Oedipus complex in men, Freud suggested that penis envy slows the
development of superego (moral compass) in women. Stemming from Aristotle’s belief that ‘we
should look upon the female as being deformity’, females are seen as ‘lacking’ when males were
used as a ‘standard’. The genital inferiority shows alpha bias in Freud’s psychodynamic approach
discriminates the female as ‘failed masculinity’, with Freud defining ‘masculinity’ as possessing a
penis. Using ‘male as norm’ in psychology negatively impacts the female population, creating
labelling and discrimination due to sexist beliefs. Females are constantly being compared to males,
not viewing them as different in their own right. In this case, psychology fails to empower individuals
but instead creates a finger pointing culture of faults in one’s behaviour and physiology. Sexism
ultimately undermines the psychological field from being a more progressive one. Though Freud’s
theory is out of date and unscientific, its unfalsifiable nature meant there is no scientific proof to
counteract this ill-supported theory. As the father of psychology, Freud’s theories that stigmatise
women continues to modern day psychology. As Freudian principles remain on A Level and Degree
syllabuses, this influences the modern-day psychologist. More psychologists carried Freud’s sexist
beliefs and viewed women with ‘deficit’ in their biological makeup, even pathologizing normal
female behaviour. Traditionally, PMS was used to explain mood swings and deviant behaviour in
females, allocating the term ‘hormonal’ when females act out, whereas deviant male behaviour was
seen as a norm with men making up 95.4% of the prison population in the UK in 2020. Managing
anger is targeted at men in prison, sexism needs to be overcome for equal treatment for female
prisoners. Tavris (1992) refuted alpha bias in explaining male and female behaviour. Tavris pointed
out that mood swings in male and females are the same; there is a lack of evidence to suggest that
female behaviours are due to hormones, challenging the basis of the belief that females are
perceived more emotional traditionally. However, sexism is still an issue in psychology as females are
still seen as ‘ill’ whereas males are not. Also, menstruating is still viewed as ‘dirty’ in certain cultures,
rather than biology. In context of career progression, pregnancy hinders job promotion, leading to
