Gender bias

- Gender bias is an act of behaviour that differenciates men and women based on stereotypes rather that real differences

- Gender bias is common in old theories, studies done on male college student made a male norm for behvaiour 

- If psychological research has gender bias it may lead to the erraneous identification of gender differences 

- Alpha bias is the over exaggeration of gender differences

- But before you can exaggerate theses differences there must be clear identification of them

- Jackilin (1974) noted that men have bette "visula spatial ability" and women are" more verbally skilled"

- This bias is criticised for being self serving to men- they can continue there sexist ways as if it is natrual

- Freud was very alpha biased = Men are apparently superior! 

- For exmaple he proposed that feminity is failed masculinity

- One way to deal with alpha bias is to devlelop theories that show differences between men and women, but emphasis the value of women

- For example, Gilligan views that women are more concerned with interpersoal relations ( ethic of care) and men are more concerned with jsutice and reason

- Un like Freud, Gilligan viewed gender differences in a positive light

- Beta bias is the minimisation of gender differences between men and women

- Ignoring any gender differences and assuming a male norm

- Example, Kohlberg = research into moral reason was done on males in a male perspective but the generalised this to women

- Beta bias theories have led to equal treatment in things such as education, as men and women we are taught the same way even though theories suggest that we many learn differently 

- Feminist psychology aims to redress th imbalances of psychology 

- One way to do this is to provide evidence that women are inferior to give them greater support

- For example, Eagly notes that females are not effective leaders therefore suitable traiming programmes have been made 

- Gender bias can also occur in researchers, institutions and hypotheses 

- For example stress research is not done on women because of the hormal changes in the months, this decision if made by either the researcher or insitution

- An expmple of this type of bias is in the diagnostic system where clinical characteristics for anorexia is lack of periods suggeting that all suffererers are females but they are not

- much os psychological theories have either beta or alpha bias paticularly early ones

- However these theories should not be discounted at they have made an important contribution to psychology