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Universality and Bias: ー Implications of gender bias ー Criticism of androcentricsm ー Bias in research methods

Gender bias in psychological research threatens the idea of universality by undermining research findings. There are different types of gender bias such as alpha bias and androcentrism. Applying gender biased research to both genders can have negative real-world implications. Researchers should study both genders and use standardized methods to reduce bias and more accurately understand psychological differences.

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Kai Kokoro
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26 views

Universality and Bias: ー Implications of gender bias ー Criticism of androcentricsm ー Bias in research methods

Gender bias in psychological research threatens the idea of universality by undermining research findings. There are different types of gender bias such as alpha bias and androcentrism. Applying gender biased research to both genders can have negative real-world implications. Researchers should study both genders and use standardized methods to reduce bias and more accurately understand psychological differences.

Uploaded by

Kai Kokoro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GENDER BIAS

Universality and Bias


 Universality is when a theory can be generalised and applied to everyone despite gender differences
 Bias is when a psychologists beliefs and values have had an influence on the research and stops research from being universal
 Universality is often threatened by gender biases as it undermines the idea

AO1:
Alpha bias: Beta bias: Androcentricism:
 States there is a difference between genders  Occurs when research has been carried out on  Research is carried out on one gender and
and is exaggerated and overestimates the gender and applied to the other without applied to another e.g. research carried out on
differences actually investigating the other gender males and applied to females

 The differences suggest that one gender is  It ignores, minimises and underestimates the  Females will not behave in the same way as
inferior to another and the differences cannot differences between men and women males and will therefore be classed as
be overcome as they are fixed, enduring and abnormal as it doesn’t follow the ‘norm’
inevitable  Females are usually excluded from research
 This results in female behaviour being
 It is more likely to devalue women  e.g. Flight or fight research was carried out on misunderstood or pathologised (taken as a sign
men of psychological instability)
 e.g. Freud – viewed femininity as failed
masculinity and believed that women had  e.g. PMS was considered as abnormal
‘penis envy’ behaviour

AO2/AO3:
ー Implications of gender bias ー Criticism of androcentricsm  Application to future research ー Bias in research methods
P An implication of gender bias is P Gender biased research has also P Research into gender bias has P Some researchers also argue that
that can create misleading led to the rise in feminist resulted in researchers there may not be a real
assumptions about women and Psychology which proves that developing criteria to prevent difference in gender but biased
will make it more difficult for women are not inferior but gender bias methods used to test males and
them to challenge stereotypes different to men E According to Worrell, women females make it seem like there
E This is because it may create E For example, Kohlberg developed should be studied in real life are significant difference
misleading assumptions and a theory of moral development, meaningful contexts and E For example, Rosenthal found
provides people with a scientific which may be seen as genuinely participate in a that male experimenters tended
justification for discrimination. It androcentric as it was developed research rather than just being to be more encouraging and
can also deny them of using men as participants and ‘object of study’. Furthermore, to pleasant towards female
opportunities. claimed later that women are less understand women better we participants than male
E Thus gender bias research is not morally developed than men. need to study diversity within participants. This made the
just a methodological problem However, such gender biased women instead of just comparing results appear as though the men
but can have damaging research paves the path for them to males all the time. Lastly, performed less well then females
consequences on women, which feminist research like Giligan who in depth comparisons should be E This is a problem because
can affect their lives such as drew up her own moral made using qualitative data in extraneous variable such as these
unequal pay development research, which addition to the widely use of make it difficult to truly grasp
L Therefore researchers should concluded that female and male quantitative methods gender differences and often
carry out research on both moralities are different i.e. males E This means that using Worrell’s gives us invalid comparisons and
genders as it not only decreases are justice orientated and criteria will reduce gender bias in data
the validity of research but can females are care orientated research as it will make it more L Researchers therefore argue that
have negative outcomes on a E This shows that one gender is not applicable to women out methodology needs to be
gender (specifically women) inferior to another and the L Therefore, our understanding of scientifically standardised in
research method is flawed gender bias is leading to practical order to correct such biases and
L This has gone to prove that applications to help avoid it address the issue of exaggerated
existing gender biased research gender differences in
can be inaccurate in many cases psychological research

NOTE: Only select the relevant AO1s (e.g. 2/3 points) and four evaluation points (AO2/AO3)

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