Despite decades of striving toward equality, gender biases
appear prevalent amongst researchers in psychology. In a
recently published study, the investigators found that
psychology researchers most often compare females against an
implicit male norm, rather than on their own or vice-a-versa.
When research finds that men and women differ psychologically,
which group seems to be more responsible for the difference?
Where gender differences were observed in the research examined,
they were described as being about males, and less often than as
being about females. Males are seen as the standard for the
typical human subject. The research was published in the Review
of General Psychology, by University of Surrey (UK)
psychologists Peter Hegarty and Carmen Buechel. The authors
systematically surveyed forty years of gender difference
research in four journals published by the American
Psychological Association. “Even the graphs and tables show
evidence of the male-norm effect” said Hegarty. “About three
quarters o