113083
Gender Bias In Psychology
- Alpha bias
- assume there are real differences
between men and women
- example
- Freud's theory of psychosexual
development is alpha-biased
because he viewed femininity as
failed masculinity
- Freud (1925) - "we must not
allow ourselves to ... regard the
two sexes as completely equal
in position and worth"
- Freud believed that women's 'deficiency'
is caused by the absence of a penis
- women are seen as being inferior to men because
they are jealous of mens penises (penis envy)
- they cannot undergo the same Oedipus conflict as
boys do (involves castration anxiety)
- because the
superego develops
from the Oedipus
conflict, women
must therefore be
morally inferior
- because the
superego develops
from the Oedipus
conflict, women
must therefore be
morally inferior
- they cannot undergo the same Oedipus conflict as
boys do (involves castration anxiety)
- women are seen as being inferior to men because
they are jealous of mens penises (penis envy)
- Freud (1925) - "we must not
allow ourselves to ... regard the
two sexes as completely equal
in position and worth"
- Josselson (1988) -
"Classical
psychoanalytical
theory is grounded
in the genital
inferiority of women
and deduce their
moral inferiority as
well"
- Freud's theory of psychosexual
development is alpha-biased
because he viewed femininity as
failed masculinity
- assume there are real differences
between men and women
- Beta bias
- tend to ignore or minimise differences
between men and women
- example
- Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning
had an androcentric bias for 2 reasons
- dilemmas
used to asses
moral
reasoning
were based
on a male
perspective
- the
developmental
scale was
based on
research with
males
- the theory was then
applied to both men and
women assuming that it
had universal relevance
- unsurprisingly, Kohlberg found
females did NOT reason at the
same higher level that males did
- devalues female perspective
- devalues female perspective
- unsurprisingly, Kohlberg found
females did NOT reason at the
same higher level that males did
- dilemmas
used to asses
moral
reasoning
were based
on a male
perspective
- Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning
had an androcentric bias for 2 reasons
- Androcentric bias
- theories and studies tend to
be written/conducted by men
- theories and studies tend to
be written/conducted by men
- tend to ignore or minimise differences
between men and women
- Dealing with gender bias
- Feminist
psychology
- takes the view that a necessity to
any social change with respect to
gender roles must be a revision of
our 'facts' about gender
- facts perpetuate
our beliefs about
women
- facts perpetuate
our beliefs about
women
- aims to redress the
imbalances in psychology
- one way to redress the balance
- use evidence that women may be inferior to
provide women with greater support
- Eagly (1978) acknowledged that women may be less effective leaders than
men but this knowledge should be used to develop suitable training
programmes and therefore create a future with more women leaders
- Eagly (1978) acknowledged that women may be less effective leaders than
men but this knowledge should be used to develop suitable training
programmes and therefore create a future with more women leaders
- use evidence that women may be inferior to
provide women with greater support
- one way to redress the balance
- takes the view that a necessity to
any social change with respect to
gender roles must be a revision of
our 'facts' about gender
- Reverse alpha bias
- develop theories which show
the differences between men
and women but that
emphasise the value of women
- Gilligan's view - women are concerned with
interpersonal relations whereas men are more
concerned with justice and reason
- Gilligan's view - women are concerned with
interpersonal relations whereas men are more
concerned with justice and reason
- develop theories which show
the differences between men
and women but that
emphasise the value of women
- Avoiding a beta bias
- beta bias has
consequences
for women
- however, equal treatment under the
law has allowed women greater
access to educational and
occupational opportunities
- however, equal treatment under the
law has allowed women greater
access to educational and
occupational opportunities
- Hare-Mustin and Maracek - arguing for equality between men
and women draws attention away from women's special needs
and from differences in power between men and women
- in a society where one group holds most of the power,
neutral actions end up benefiting the group with the power
- EG. equal parental leave ignores the biological demands of pregnancy, childbirth
and breastfeeding, and the special needs of women, disadvantaging women
- EG. equal parental leave ignores the biological demands of pregnancy, childbirth
and breastfeeding, and the special needs of women, disadvantaging women
- in a society where one group holds most of the power,
neutral actions end up benefiting the group with the power
- beta bias has
consequences
for women
- Feminist
psychology
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