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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Donna Rose Marion, Ph.D.
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♀It’s interesting!
♀To understand women better
♀Academic pursuit
Show quantitative and qualitative differences
between male/female experience
To correct sex biases found in many traditional
psychological theories
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The first thing that strikes the careless
observer is that women are unlike men.
They are “the opposite sex”—(though why
“opposite” I do not know; what is the
“neighboring sex”?). But the fundamental
thing is that women are more like men than
anything else in the world.
-Dorothy Sayers (1946)
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♀Sex — the classification of individuals as
female or male based on their genetic
makeup, anatomy, and reproductive
functions
♀Gender — the state of being male or female
based on the meanings that societies and
individuals give to female and male
categories
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Sexism
♀Discrimination or bias against people
based on their gender. Sometimes
also called sex bias.
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Feminist
A person who favors political, economic, and
social equality of women and men, and
therefore favors the legal and social changes
necessary to achieve that equality.
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♀Modern sexism — (also called neosexism) —
subtle prejudiced beliefs about women
♀Hostile sexism — negative, hostile attitudes
toward women and adversarial beliefs about
gender relations in which women are thought to
spend most of their time trying to control men,
through sexuality or feminism
♀Benevolent sexism — beliefs about women that
seem to the perpetrator to be kind or
benevolent—in which women are honored and
put on the proverbial pedestal
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♀ Male as normative -- model in which the male is seen as the
norm for all humans; the female is seen as a deviation from
the norm
This theme is seen in:
 The biblical creation story of Adam and Eve
 Language: masculine pronouns are default
♀ Androcentrism -- male centered; belief that male is the norm
♀ Feminine evil - the belief that women are the source of evil or
immorality in the world
The feminine evil theme is seen in
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The Judeo-Christian story of Adam and Eve: Eve is responsible for original sin
Ancient Greek mythology: Pandora is responsible for releasing evil into the world
Chinese mythology: yin is female force, seen as the dark or evil side of nature
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Witch burnings in Puritan America & the Inquisition
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♀Gender similarities—women and men are more
similar than different (Hyde, 2005)
♀Theory versus empirical evidence
♀Traits (enduring characteristics of individual
people) versus situational determinants of
behavior
Internal vs. external factors
♀Pervasiveness of female deficit models
♀Importance of values in a scientific understanding
of women
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♀Gender Binary is no longer the accepted norm
♀Gender Diversity!
Transgender
Intersex
Genderqueer
♀Intersectionality of Gender
Ethnicity
Social class
Sexual orientation
♀Social Construction of Gender
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How Psychologists Do Research
Theoretical Model
Formulate a
Question
Design the Research
`
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Statistically
Interpret Results
Publish Results
Results read by
scientists and
incorporated into
existing body of
scientific knowledge
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 Quantitative
Emphasizes objectivity and control
Uses quantitative measures
Compares participant responses to others or a
standard
 Qualitative
Emphasizes subjective procedures
Focuses on women’s accounts of their own experience
Attempts to capture each participant’s unique
perspective
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Most research designs are one of the following:
Naturalistic observations: participant’s behavior is observed
in naturalistic settings, with no manipulation
Archival analysis: information is extracted from archival
records (books, newspapers, films, etc.)
Surveys: item-response data is collected from participants
Experiments: participant’s behavior is manipulated in some
way, typically in a laboratory setting
 Independent Variable (IV) is manipulated
 Dependent Variable (DV) is measured
 Random Assignment
Quasi-experiments: design uses two or more groups, but
participants are not randomly assigned or manipulated
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 Example: Gender differences in math performance
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Sex Bias in Research
Theoretical Model
Formulate a
Question
Biased theory
Design the Research
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Statistically
Interpret Results
Publish Results
Results read by
scientists and
incorporated into
existing body of
scientific knowledge
Influenced by:
 Researcher’s personal interests
 Researcher’s assumptions
about gender
 Researcher’s assumptions
about race and other categories
of social identity
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Sex Bias in Research
Theoretical Model
Formulate a
Question
Design the Research
Sex bias in selection
of participants and
measurements
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Statistically
Interpret Results
Publish Results
Results read by
scientists and
incorporated into
existing body of
scientific knowledge
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 Selecting research participants
Are the participants representative of the larger population?
Is the gender composition specified?
Other sampling limitations: race, socioeconomic status, etc.
♀ Selecting the instruments (measures)
SAT-Math sample question:
A high school basketball team has won 40% of its first 15
games. Beginning with the 16th game, how many games in a
row does the team now have to win in order to have a 55%
winning record?
a) 3
b) 5
c) 6
d) 11
e) 15
 Males have an advantage due to greater experience with team
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sports
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Sex Bias in Research
Theoretical Model
Formulate a
Question
Design the Research
Bias resulting from
Experimenter Effects
and Observer Effects
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Statistically
Interpret Results
Publish Results
Results read by
scientists and
incorporated into
existing body of
scientific knowledge
 Experimenter Effects ‐ when some
characteristics of the experimenter
affect the way participants behave,
thus affecting the research outcome
 Observer Effects ‐ when
expectations affect observations
and recording of the data
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♀Examples of experimenter effects:
 The number of sex partners reported by men
differs significantly, depending on the sex of
the researcher (Fisher, 2007)
 Rape myth acceptance differs significantly,
depending on researcher’s conservative vs.
provocative clothing (Bryant et al., 2001)
♀Solution: use several experimenters, half male
and half female (or balance other characteristics)
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♀Examples of observer effects
Planaria movement
(Hoyt & Kerns, 1999; 2009)
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
♀Possible solution: a “blind” study
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Sex Bias in Research
Theoretical Model
Formulate a
Question
Design the Research
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Statistically
 Female deficit model ‐ interpreting
findings in a way that suggests
female weakness or inferiority
 Overgeneralization ‐ inappropriate
generalization
 Assumption that presence of
gender differences implies
biological causes
Interpret Results
Publish Results
Results read by
scientists and
incorporated into
existing body of
scientific knowledge
Biased interpretation
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Sex Bias in Research
Theoretical Model
Formulate a
Question
Design the Research
Collect Data
 Publish only significant
statistics
 Gender‐biased language
(“he”)
Analyze Data
Statistically
Interpret Results
Publish Results
Publishing bias
Results read by
scientists and
incorporated into
existing body of
scientific knowledge
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Sex Bias in Research
Theoretical Model
Formulate a
Question
Design the Research
Collect Data
Analyze Data
Statistically
Interpret Results
Publish Results
Results read by
scientists and
incorporated into
existing body of
scientific knowledge
READER biases!
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1. Avoid single-gender research
2. Evaluate underlying theoretical models,
assumptions, and questions asked for gender
fairness
3. Both male and female researchers should
collect data to attenuate experimenter effects
4. Interpretations should be examined carefully for
gender fairness
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1. Don’t manipulate people; observe them in natural
environment
2. Say “participants” instead of “subjects”
3. Use two-step method of gender identification
4. Think in terms of complex, interactive relationships
5. Devote specific research attention to concerns of women
6. Conduct research to empower women and eliminate
inequities
7. Don’t assume that scientific research and political
activism are contradictory activities
8. Consider innovative methods for studying human
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behavior
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♀Progress in General 
♀Progress in Psychology
From 1965-1974, 32% of participants in articles in
the Journal of Abnormal Psychology were female
By 1995-2004, that number had increased to 51%
From 1965-1974, 12% of articles in Journal of
Abnormal Psychology had a female first author
By 1995-2004, that number had risen to 30%
Emergence of psychology of women as a separate field of
study
Psychology of women (and gender!) textbooks
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Psychology of Women Quarterly, Sex Roles
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