Gamma Bias: Cognitive Distortion in Thinking About Gender. By Martin Seager & John Barry, at UCL.

The prevailing gender narrative focuses on male privileges and female victimhood, leading to distortions in our perception and value judgments, and it is important to challenge these biases through scientific understanding 

Questions to inspire discussion

• What is the gamma bias theory?

  —The gamma bias theory suggests that there is a simultaneous minimization and magnification of gender differences, leading to distortions in our perception of masculinity and femininity.

• How does the prevailing gender narrative highlight female victimhood?

  —The prevailing gender narrative emphasizes gender when women or girls are victims, but minimizes or disregards gender when men or boys are victims.

• What is the impact of the prevailing gender narrative on male academic achievement?

  —The prevailing gender narrative celebrates and acknowledges female academic achievement as a gendered issue, while ignoring male academic achievement and framing the disparity in education as a problem of masculinity.

• How is heroism portrayed in the prevailing gender narrative?

  —Heroism is often portrayed as gender neutral, including few females who perform physically heroic acts, which prevents the celebration of positive aspects of masculinity.

• What does the prevailing gender narrative overlook in terms of male disadvantages?

  —The prevailing gender narrative overlooks male disadvantages in areas such as education, suicide, rough sleeping, work-related deaths, life expectancy, and addictions. 

Key insights

• 🚹 There is little celebration or concern regarding the demonstrable inequality in education that leaves UK universities with 22% less males than females, with the disparity being celebrated as an achievement for women rather than a matter of disadvantage for men and boys.
• 🌑 This distorted narrative presents gender as a black and white issue, portraying men as a destructive or toxic gender and women as vulnerable or repressed, making it difficult for men and boys to seek help and open up about their experiences.
• 🤯 The narrative also ignores or downplays male disadvantages in areas such as education, suicide, rough sleeping, deaths at work, life expectancy, and addictions.
• 🧐 This biased narrative leads to significant distortions in our perception and value judgments relating to gender, creating systemic inequalities and prejudices.
• 💪 The patriarchal model is so powerful that it is more than just pseudoscience, it has the power of religion.
• 🤔 We need to find examples that challenge the belief that female violence isn't present and male violence is everywhere, reducing it to only extremist perspectives.
• 🌍 It is important for researchers to contribute to a more scientific and humanitarian understanding of gender, which can inform media, politics, and policy-making.

Timestamped Summary

• 00:00 🔍 Gamma bias theory suggests that gender differences are simultaneously minimized and magnified, with masculinity downplayed when men do good things but highlighted when they do bad things, and gender emphasized when women do good things but downplayed when they do bad things, and this theory predicts that gender is emphasized when women or girls are victims but minimized when men or boys are victims, with evidence and examples provided to support this.
  • Gamma bias theory suggests that there is a simultaneous minimization and magnification of gender differences, as illustrated by the gender distortion matrix, where masculinity is downplayed when men do good things but highlighted when they do bad things, and gender is highlighted when women do good things but downplayed when they do bad things.
  • Gamma bias theory predicts that gender is emphasized when women or girls are victims, but minimized or disregarded when men or boys are victims, and evidence and examples will be presented to support this theory.
• 03:03 📚 Female academic achievement is celebrated while male academic achievement is not acknowledged, heroism is portrayed as gender neutral, and the gender-neutral coverage of the male cave divers in Thailand perpetuates a distorted narrative that makes it difficult for men and boys to seek help for their own victimhood.
  • Female academic achievement is celebrated and seen as a gendered issue, while male academic achievement is not acknowledged and the disparity in education is framed as a problem of masculinity rather than a disadvantage for men and boys.
  • Heroism is often portrayed as gender neutral by including the few females who perform physically heroic acts, which prevents the celebration of the positive and protective aspects of masculinity.
  • The gender-neutral coverage of the male cave divers who rescued the boys in Thailand ignores their gender and perpetuates a distorted narrative that focuses on female victims and male perpetrators, making it difficult for men and boys to seek help for their own victimhood.
• 06:31 📝 The mainstream gender narrative overlooks female privilege and downplays disadvantages for fathers, while also ignoring male disadvantages in areas such as education, suicide, rough sleeping, work-related deaths, life expectancy, and addictions.
  • The mainstream gender narrative overlooks female privilege in areas such as maternity and downplays disadvantages for fathers, while also ignoring male disadvantages in education, suicide, rough sleeping, work-related deaths, life expectancy, and addictions.
  • Men are often overlooked as victims in areas such as suicide, rough sleeping, addiction deaths, and work-related deaths, while the narrative surrounding female victims of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence downplays the significant number of male victims.
• 08:16 🔍 The prevailing public narrative on gender focuses on male privileges and female victimhood, leading to distortions in our perception and value judgments, but it is important to challenge these biases through scientific understanding.
  • The prevailing public narrative on gender highlights male privileges, male perpetration, female achievement, and female victimhood, while neutralizing or downplaying female privileges, female perpetration, male achievement, and male victimhood, leading to distortions in our perception and value judgments relating to gender.
  • Distorted thinking patterns can negatively impact the well-being of everyone, and it is important to challenge and address these biases through scientific understanding.
• 10:02 📚 The speaker emphasizes the significance of measuring bias as a cognitive distortion and the interaction between alpha and beta bias in gender studies, emphasizing the need to combat gender biases through science and reaching out to those unaware of them.
  • The speaker discusses the importance of measuring bias as a cognitive distortion and highlights the interaction between alpha and beta bias in gender studies.
  • The speaker discusses the need to reach out to people who are not aware of gender biases and the importance of using science to combat these biases.
• 12:27 📺 The video discusses the need to highlight the gender aspect in discussions about school shooters and terrorism, and challenges the dominant narrative that portrays men as inherently aggressive by providing evidence of female violence and questioning the patriarchal hypothesis.
  • School shooters are predominantly male, but the gender aspect is not always highlighted in discussions about them, similar to how terrorism is predominantly male but not always emphasized.
  • The speaker discusses the need to counter the dominant narrative that portrays men as inherently aggressive by providing evidence of instances where female violence exists and reducing the belief in the patriarchal hypothesis to only extremist feminists.
• 14:38 📚 Improvement is possible in reducing toxicity in mainstream thinking about gender, as demonstrated by the story of a father who tragically lost his daughter, but the media's focus on masculinity as synonymous with rape and its one-sided presentation magnifies and distorts the issue, highlighting the need for research to provide a more scientific and humanitarian understanding of gender in media, politics, and policy.
  • Improvement is possible in reducing toxicity in mainstream thinking about gender, as demonstrated by the story of a father who tragically lost his daughter.
  • The media's focus on masculinity as synonymous with rape and its tendency to present a one-sided picture magnifies and distorts the issue, while research is needed to provide a more scientific and humanitarian understanding of gender in media, politics, and policy.
• 16:41 💡 The book discussed in the video is expensive, but there are vouchers available and libraries can provide it if requested.

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