Historical Bias and Oppression in Psychological Research

Published by Kimberly Jenkins May 3, 2026

It is not unexpected that women are rarely diagnosed with attention deficit disorder because there is a long history of favoring particular groups of people while examining different psychological issues. In the beginning, this discipline was largely about white men because psychologists mostly studied white men at first. Henrich et al. (2010) assert that it cannot be utilized uniformly for all individuals.

Sadly, the legacy of these historical events still affects how we diagnose ADHD and psychology in general. The diagnosis of ADHD was predicated on symptoms predominantly exhibited in boys, specifically hyperactivity and impulsivity, while insufficiently considering inattentiveness and emotional instability, which are frequently displayed by girls. Furthermore, the prolonged history of discrimination and persecution against the minority, along with the stigmatization of certain behaviors, has engendered suspicion towards medical practitioners who could potentially address psychological difficulties (Suite et al., 2007).
Psychologists should reflect on their previous actions to address the issue. This issue continues to afflict contemporary researchers who emphasize the challenge of over-reliance on samples characterized by “WEIRD” groups—Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic populations—whose participation constrains the generalizability of psychological theories and diagnostic instruments (Henrich et al.). Lately, there has been greater interest in the history of these techniques and how they may have affected not just what was investigated but also how the symptoms of different disorders were defined and understood (Rad et al., 2018). Concerning ADHD, it has led to a limited comprehension of this illness linked to the externalization of symptoms, which is more prevalent in boys, whereas internalization is more frequently observed in girls.

Sadly, the past events we talked about above still affect how we diagnose and evaluate ADHD. The ADHD diagnosis presupposed the existence of symptoms predominantly indicative of boys and linked to hyperactivity and impulsiveness, rather than inattention and emotional instability characteristic of girls.