The Problem of Androcentrism

• Definition: Androcentric Bias
• The tendency of man to see himself as the center of the university.
• A Little Bit of History
• Androcentrism in Biology
• Man was considered by Darwin to be CENTRAL to the species
• Androcentrism in Psychology
• Male was the norm
• Research and theory focused on men’s experiences and behaviors
• Bias in the Research Process
• Topic Selection
• Sex-of-Experimenter Effects
• Emphasis on Intersex Differences
• Deficiency of Female Behavior
• Fundamental Attribution Error
• Overgeneralization of Data

• Definition
• Feminist psychological scholarship is feminist, dialectic, and aims for contextual validity.
• Feminist
• Dialectic
• Contextually Valid
• Feminist Principles for Research

(from J. Meyer, 1988)

• The investigator should take stock of the material context.
• The investigator should take account of the normative context for social processes.
• The investigator should give the subjective experience a legitimate place in social science.
• The investigator should be aware of the impact of the research on society.

• Assumptions of Feminist Empiricism
• Assumes an objective reality that can be revealed through
• systematic observation,
• experimentation, and
• recording of data
• Maintains that appropriate scientific methods can be used to address issues of importance to women
• BUT alternative approaches may be necessary
• Feminist Research Process (from Rollins, 1996)
• Formulating the Hypotheses
• The historical and sociocultural context is taken into account.
• Topics are selected which are relevant in the lives of women.
• Questions are worded to incorporate the frame of reference of the participant.
• Designing the Research
• Participants are chosen who are of the population to which the results will be generalized.
• Researchers are chosen who have characteristics similar to those of participants, such as sex, age, and race.
• Measures of the sociocultural context are incorporated into the research design.
• Both qualitative and quantitative data are collected.
• Performing the Research
• Researchers who do not know the hypotheses interview participants and run experiments.
• Researchers develop a special relationship with participants, enabling them to better understand their participants’ frame of reference.
• Analyzing and Reporting the Data
• Both statistical significance and practical significance are reported and discussed.
• Nonsignificant findings, such as of no gender differences on a behavioral measure, are also reported.
• When communicating findings it is pointed out that a gender difference is only an average group difference which does not apply to any individual.
• A title is chosen for the report which does not sensationalize or overgeneralize the results.
• Sexism in Psychology
• An examination of studies in eight psychology journals found that even though sexist language has been eliminated, sexism still exists in the literature.
• Gannon et al. (1992)
• reviewed 4,952 articles
• published in 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, and 1990
• in two journals from each of four areas
• developmental
• social
• clinical
• physiological
• Found
• sexist language had been virtually eliminated
• the percentage of studies that included only male participants had decreased
• the percentage of studies authored by women had increased
• the percentage of studies in which data based on participants of one sex were generalized to people of both sexes had decreased
• BUT
• there was little change in the hypothesizing and testing of sex differences
• Social and physiological journals contained more evidence of sexism than did developmental and clinical journals.
• Content analyses of articles from 1976 to 1987 in Psychology of Women and Sex Roles found
• No study showed participants to play any role other than research source
• Usually no report of informed consent
• Debriefing seldom occurred
• No report of gender of experimenter
• Only two studies that showed data to be put to some socially constructive use
• Reliance primarily on undergraduate participants
• Use of the term subject by most authors
• Research Objectives to Combat Sexism
• Samples
• Studies diverse groups
• NOT just white, middle-class college students
• Context
• Examines contexts personally meaningful to respondents
• Focuses on phenomenology rather than situations "stripped" of social context
• Outcomes
• Examines contexts in terms of many respondents from a setting
• Includes units of analysis that are more than the individuals
• Examines interpersonal and group dynamics as well as individual characteristics
• Conclusions
• Focus on the interaction between situations and individuals
• Expose contradictions between ideologies and reality
• Propose strategies for societal change

HAVE A NICE DAY!