Evaluation of Ethical implications Read the following evaluation points from the textbooks. Collate the points together to create 3 PEEL evaluation points For Against Applications

For socially sensitive research The case in favour of socially sensitive research was made by Scarr who stated that there are benefits to society in conducting socially sensitive research. She argued that Science is in desperate need of good studies that highlight race and gender variables . . . to inform us of what we need to do to help underrepresented people to succeed in this society. Socially sensitive research has benefited society for example, the research into the unreliability of eyewitness testimony has reduced the risk of miscarriages of justice within the legal system. Therefore, it can be argued that socially sensitive research is important and desirable to society provided that adequate safeguards are built into the research

Against socially sensitive research One argument against socially sensitive research is that the very fact that certain socially sensitive issues are being studied by psychologists can suggest to society at large that these issues are real and important. For example, the fact that psychologists have compared the intelligence of different races implies that there are racial differences, and that intelligence exists and can be measured. For example, between 1910 and 1920, several American states passed laws designed to prevent certain categories of people (including those of low intelligence) from having children. Therefore, socially sensitive research can be used to justify various forms of discrimination against individuals or groups. In the most extreme cases, the findings of psychological studies have even been used to produce discriminatory changes in the laws and regulations within a given society. Thus, the findings of socially sensitive research can be used to justify new (and often unwarranted) forms of social control.

Applications This research has important applications. Research that carries ethical implications is scrutinised by an ethics comitee who will weigh up the cost and benefits of the research. However, even then some of the social consequences of research may be difficult to anticipate. In order to reduce the likelihood of misuse of data, psychologists should be energetic in taking responsibility for what happens to their findings. They should be aware of the possibility that the results of their research might lead to abuse and discrimination. The researchers should see it as part of the research process to promote their research in a socially sensitive way, as opposed to the neutral position that some scientists take.

Gender bias in Psychology Date

To Start: Don’t you remember? 1) Think back to AS (Year 1) and note down as many key studies as you can remember. 2) Now put a star next to the ones who had male participants. 3) Now put a ring around the ones who had female participants. What does this tell us about psychological research?

Real gender differences? Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) Girls have greater verbal ability than boys. Boys have greater visual and spatial abilities than girls (e.g., arranging blocks in specified patterns). Boys have greater arithmetical ability than girls, but this difference only appears at adolescence. Girls are less aggressive than boys: this is found in nearly all cultures, and is usually present from about 2 years of age. Shaffer (1993) girls show more emotional sensitivity (e.g., they respond more attentively to babies). girls are less vulnerable developmentally than boys and are less likely to suffer from learning disabilities, various language disorders, or hyperactivity. boys tend to be more physically active than girls. in a review of research on sex differences (see Eysenck’s A2 Level Psychology Chapter 7, Gender). They concluded that there were only four differences between boys and girls for which there was strong evidence. This is a much smaller number of gender differences than would have been predicted by most psychologists. The four differences identified by Maccoby and Jacklin were as follows:

If there are real gender differences, how does that affect psychological research? Hare-Mustin and Marecek (1988) considered the issue of gender bias in psychology in detail. Their starting point was that there are two basic forms of gender bias: alpha bias and beta bias psychology creates bias by assuming that all people are the same and therefore it is reasonable to apply the same theories/methods with both men and women. The aim is to produce theories that can claim to have universality

Androcentrism Historically psychology has been male dominated. Mostly psychologists were men and therefore, theories were based on a male view of the world. In some cases research is only carried out on males (beta bias) and then the results are generaliased to males and females. There is no value put onto the differences between genders.

Institutional sexism Men predominate at senior researcher level Research agenda follows male concerns, female concerns may be marginalised or ignored Women and men might respond differently to research situation Women and men might be treated differently by researchers Could create artificial differences or mask real one Publishing bias towards positive results Research that finds gender differences more likely to get published than that which doesn't Exaggerates extent of gender differences

Beta bias Differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences. Gender bias A theory based on male behaviour but applied to females and therefore is biased. At best, this leads to female behaviour being misunderstood, and at worst, pathologised (e.g. seen as mentally ill). Universality Theories that are alpha-biased exaggerate gender differences. Differences may heighten the value of women, or may devalue females in relation to males. alpha bias Theories that ignore or minimise gender differences and assume that what is true for one gender is true for all human kind. May occur when females not included as part of research process but assumed that research findings apply equally to both sexes, e.g. Kolhberg’s theory of moral development. Androcentrism Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing.

Gender bias Androcentrism Alpha bias Beta bias Universality Differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences. Androcentrism A theory based on male behaviour but applied to females and therefore is biased. At best, this leads to female behaviour being misunderstood, and at worst, pathologised (e.g. seen as mentally ill). Alpha bias Theories that are alpha-biased exaggerate gender differences. Differences may heighten the value of women, or may devalue females in relation to males. Beta bias Theories that ignore or minimise gender differences and assume that what is true for one gender is true for all human kind. May occur when females not included as part of research process but assumed that research findings apply equally to both sexes, e.g. Kolhberg’s theory of moral development. Universality Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing.

Alpha Bias An alpha bias exaggerates the differences between males and females. Differences between the sexes are usually presented as real, enduring, fixed and inevitable Consequences: devalue one gender in comparison to the other Most journals in psychology are much more willing to publish significant findings than non-significant ones. As a result, it is likely that the published literature exaggerates the extent of gender differences in behaviour— researchers finding no gender differences find it difficult to publish their data. Lombrosso Task: Identify and explain examples of alpha bias?(hint psychodynamic approach/evolutionary approach)

Alpha bias Freud: psychoanalytic approach Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity – he exaggerated the difference between males and females. Women are seen as being inferior to men because of they are jealous of mens penis (penis envy) and because they cannot undergo the same Oedipus complex as boys do. Girls do not identify with their mothers as strongly as boys identify with their fathers, so develop weaker superegos (morally inferior) The evolutionary approach The evolutionary processes in the development of the human species explain why men tend to be dominant, why women have a more parental investment in their offspring, and why men are more likely to commit adultery. However, society has changed considerably over recent years, and it is argued that the evolutionary perspective shouldn’t be used to justify gender differences. Male – young/attractive partners / Females – wealth/status Evolutionary psychology has a strong alpha bias, especially when discussing, parental investment, aggression and attraction. Freud’s theory of gender identification and the development of the superego.

Biological explanations of mental illness, in particular depression, are gender-biased. Illnesses like depression can be explained in terms of chemical imbalances in serotonin and noradrenaline as causing malfunctions in parts of the brain associated with emotion. When explaining why twice as many women as men are diagnosed with depression, supporters of the biomedical view tend to suggest that this is because of hormonal differences, for example post-natal depression, to show how fluctuations in female sex hormones can lead to abnormalities of mood. This might be a biased view because most doctors are men and hold stereotypes which may lead them to give certain diagnoses and that’s why more women receive the diagnosis.

Beta Bias This is tendency to ignore the differences between men and women. The assumption is that theories derived from research into men can also be applied to women. People assume what is true for men is also true for women, thus mistakenly minimising the difference between men and women. Needs of one gender are often ignored Task: can you think of examples of beta bias?(hint Kohlberg, social influence/fight or flight)

Beta Bias Fight/flight theory Based on largely male animals. Fight/flight thought to apply universally Taylor (2000) females evolved to inhibit fight/flight. Females shift attention towards caring for offspring and forming defense networks with other females. Lee and Harley (2012) more likely to ‘tend’ and ‘befriend’. Foster social support in a stressful situation. The beta bias approach meant that female behaviour went undiscovered and meant that the stress response was not fully understood. The beta bias meant that a real difference was ignored.

Evaluation of Gender Bias Read the following evaluation points from the textbooks. Collate the points together to create 3 PEEL evaluation points

Methodological gender bias Gender bias findings can also be argued to be invalid through methodological gender bias. This is when the design of the research, biases the chances of the researcher obtaining particular findings, for example, when gender differences depends on the precise measures of behaviour that are taken. Eagly et al carried out a meta-analysis to compare the effectiveness of male and female leaders and found that there was overall very little difference between male and female leaders. This shows that the results depended very much on the situation you choose to study. You could apparently show that men make better leaders if you focused on leadership in the army, but could show that women make better leaders if you focused on leadership among nurses. Therefore, It is important for researchers studying gender differences to make sure that they compare the two sexes in a range of different situations and using various measures of behaviour. If that is not done, then there is a very real risk of methodological gender bias.

Feminists psychology Social constructionism A key issue with respect to gender bias is the extent to which values determine facts. Social constructionists suggest that facts are socially constructed. Such facts may have serious repercussions, for example in the treatment of women with learning disabilities. Whether such facts are true or not, they perpetuate our beliefs about women.

There are various biases in theory and research on gender that stand in the way of obtaining an accurate picture of the genuine psychological differences between men and women. There is almost a substantial amount of overlap between the sexes on certain measures of behaviour. This means that it is nearly always too simple to state that females outperform males (or vice versa) on some measure of behaviour. However, while gender bias is a matter for concern, researchers nowadays are more aware than ever of the existence of these biases and of the need to avoid them. As a result, it is probably true that recent research on gender differences is less affected by these biases.

Exam focus 1. Explain what is meant by gender bias in psychology (2) 2. Explain how androcentrism has affected psychological research (3) 3. Outline an example of gender bias in psychological research (4)

Q1 In psychology, gender bias means that any differences between males and females has not been fully considered in research. An alpha bias is where the differences between genders are exaggerated and a beta bias is when any differences between genders is ignored.

Q2 Androcentrism has affected psychological research because in the past most research was conducted only on men and historically there were very few female psychologists. This means that there was a rather masculine view of the world as many important psychological studies only used male participants. An example of such research is Milgram's research into obedience. The assumption from this research is that obedience would be at the Same level as it was in the male sample. Freud's theory of psychosexual development can also be considered androcentric as much of his research was focused on the development of the male child. This is particularly so for the phallic stage of development.

Q3 One example of gender bias in psychological research is in Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Kohlberg studied 72 boys and gave them dilemma's to assess their moral development. This is an example of a Beta bias because Kohlberg's conclusions were generalised to females as well as males even though no females were studied. The assumption is that moral development occurs in exactly the same way for females even though they were not actually studied in his original studies.