Essay
A level Psychology AQA Gender Bias Essay 16 Marks
- Course
- Institution
Essay on gender bias within psychology, with strong discussion points and examples from throughout the spec.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
daliaxelena
Content preview
Gender Bias:Gender bias is when psychological research or theories offer a different perspective that is not representative of the
entire experience of either gender. This bias most typically occurs towards women, through research being conducted
only on men, leading to wrongly generalising such ndings to the entire population which is an example of beta bias.
Androcentrism is the belief that the world is centred around men and so research should only be conducted on men and
for men. Alpha bias is when the difference between the two genders is over exaggerated.
An example of alphas bias includes Wilson’s Sociobiological theory which states that women preserve their genes
through looking after and caring for the children that she had birthed, whereas men preserve these genes through
continuing to reproduce and have as many children as possible, in order to further their favourable genes. This states
that promiscuity is inherited for men and such a behaviour is learned through evolution.
This form of alpha bias in physiological research is a fundamental problem as it reinforces dangerous stereotypes within
society. This is a profound problem as some men may see this as a justi cation of sexual assault- as they are attempting
to further their genes and believe it is part of their innate behaviours, which leads to women being been further
repressed and cause them to live in fear. It also further belittles women, as it suggests that women who engage in more
sexual relations or those who choose to not have children are acting abnormally and against their nature, therefore
should be frowned upon further reinforcing stereotypes within society. The only way in which this biased theory can be
justi ed is through reducing men to animals, without being raised without human morals but a better solution would be
to entirely disregard this for humans as it is dehumanising to assume that animals and humans should be seems as
having the same “sociobiological theories”.
Research of beta bias include many studies into social in uence, such as Milgram’s study into obedience which only
used a sample of men between the ages of 20-45. Milgram had believed that his research was universal, and that his
ndings could be applicable to anyone, regardless of gender but it was wrong to come to this conclusion without a
female sample.
This beta bias is a problem to some extent due to the under representation of women within psychological research.
However, it can be justi ed as Burger had replicated Milgram’s study and found little to no difference between the
women’s and men’s responses in obedience. Therefore this shows that some psychological research can be done simply
on one gender and results are the same due to the innate similarities of human behaviour.
A further example of alpha bias is Grossman’s theory into the role of the father where he found that men take on the
playful style of parenting, whereas women are more nurturing and have the role of care. This states that the role of the
father is not as important as the mothers’ in development and attachment.
This is a signi cant problem as it places an emphasis on women not returning back to work, which can have negative
implications on the economy. This is because less women will be in the workforce, lowering the net productivity of
companies leading to the government receiving a lower amount of tax from the mothers and the companies. Hence,
such alpha bias can lead to psychology not bene ting the economy which contradicts its main purpose. Not only does
this have economical implications, but also the emotional pressure on the mothers increase due to the fathers being
considered as inferior. This can lead to women feeling overwhelmed and lead to stress related illness as they may not be
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller daliaxelena. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.18. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
76669 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now