Gender and Cultural Bias

Question 1

What is the definition of gender bias?

Answer 1

1. When a bias is made towards 1 gender
2. Where behaviour is applied to the other gender

Question 2

What is universality?

Answer 2

• When research findings are applied to everyone, regardless of their gender and culture
• Believing behaviours are the same for all cultures

Question 3

What is gender bias mainly caused by?

Answer 3

Using a sample of 1 gender in research and then applying the findings to all people

Question 4

What are the types of gender bias?

Answer 4

1. Androcentrism
2. Alpha bias
3. Beta bias
4. Gynocentrism

Question 5

What is androcentrism?

Answer 5

• Theories which are centred or focused on males only
• Can occur if all male samples are used in research which leads to a theory being generated and applied to both genders

Question 6

What is some psychological research that could be considered androcentric?

Answer 6

1. Milgram’s theory of obedience
2. Asch’s theory of conformity
3. Zimbardo’s internalisation of social roles

Question 7

What is gynocentrism?

Answer 7

• Approximately 70% of modern psychology undergraduate students are female
• Means we may later find that research has a bias which favours females

Question 8

What is alpha bias?

Answer 8

An exaggeration of the differences between men and women (stereotypical male and female characteristics are emphasised)

Question 9

What is an example of alpha bias?

Answer 9

Freud argued that women experience penis envy during the electra complex and that women are an example of failed masculinity, therefore being inferior to men

Question 10

What is an example of beta bias?

Answer 10

A tendency to minimise or ignore differences between men and women and assume they’re the same

Question 11

How can psychological research have beta bias?

Answer 11

It can assume that the insights derived from the study of men will apply equally to women

Question 12

How does beta bias relate to androcentrism?

Answer 12

• It assumes that all human nature is essentially male nature
• It can lead to alpha bias by creating a theory which uses only male research, meaning it’s likely that gender differences will be found if you use the theory to explain female behaviour

Question 13

What is an example of beta bias?

Answer 13

• The fight or flight response is considered to be universal
• However, Lee and Harvey indicate that women are more likely to tend and befriend
• Therefore, the fight or flight response could be an example of beta bias in psychology

Question 14

If the point is:

An issue with gender bias is that many significant theories of human behaviour have been built on androcentric research which have then tested women using flawed criteria, and have found results that appear to show significant differences in behaviour according to gender.

What is the evidence, explanation and link?

Answer 14

Evidence- For example, Kohlberg proposed a stage theory of moral development based on research which was conducted on boys only. He later tested girls using the same stages and found that, on average, they showed a lower level of moral development. This led to alpha biased conclusions that women have an inferior moral understanding.

Explanation- Therefore, androcentric research can, at best, only apply to half of the population, reducing how useful it is to everyone. As a result, androcentric research should only be applied specifically to males and not inappropriately generalised to females.

Link- This means that psychology as a field may have some significant biases in terms of understanding behaviour in relation to gender.

Question 15

If the point is:

Critical analysis of beta bias has led us to see that, whilst equality is important, we shouldn’t minimise the differences between men and women if this means disadvantaging one sex.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 15

Evidence- Hare Mustin and Marecek suggest that arguing for equality between men and women draws attention away from the current power imbalance between men and women and may even lead to greater imbalances. For example, arguing for equal parenting rights ignores the biological demands of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

Link- This means that beta biased approaches that seek to minimise gender differences can be as damaging as alpha biased ones.

Question 16

If the point is:

Psychologists are now beginning to challenge the potential gender bias in many well established psychological theories.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 16

Evidence- For example, recent DNA evidence suggests that women are equally competitive and aggressive compared to men in situations where they need to be. This contradicts the long held Darwinian view that males are competitive whereas females are more passive.

Link- This suggests that Darwin may have been influenced by the prevailing view of women in Victorian times and that many of the theories we assume to be unbiased and scientific may actually be riddled with gender bias.

Question 17

If the point is:

It’s possible that some differences that appear to exist between males and females may stem from gender bias in research methods.

What is the evidence and link?

Answer 17

Evidence- For example, Rosenthal found that male researchers are more pleasant, friendly, and encouraging towards female participants than male ones, which may skew results.

Link- This means that researchers must be careful and consider how they’re able to carry out research with minimal experimenter bias in order to avoid misinterpreting data.

Question 18

What are the evaluation points for gender bias?

Answer 18

– Many significant theories of human behaviour have been built on androcentric research which have then tested women using flawed criteria and have found results that appear to show significant differences in behaviour according to gender

+ Critical analysis of beta bias has led us to see that, whilst equality is important, we shouldn’t minimise the differences between men and women if this means disadvantaging one sex

+ Psychologists are beginning to challenge the potential gender bias in many well established psychological theories

– It’s possible that some differences that appear to exist between males and females may stem from gender bias in research methods

Question 19

How is culture bias defined?

Answer 19

The act of interpreting and judging behaviour and psychological characteristics of a culture by holding them to the standards of your own

Question 20

What is an example of culture bias?

Answer 20

Theories developing in 1 culture which are then inappropriately applied to others through biased research methods which only use participants who aren’t representative of all cultures

Question 21

What are the 2 forms of culture bias?

Answer 21

1. Ethnocentrism
2. Cultural relativism

Question 22

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 22

• The tendency to use 1 ethnic group as a reference point for making judgements about other cultures’ behaviour
• Western culture is typically seen as ‘normal’ and those which deviate from this can be seen as ‘primitive’ and ‘unsophisticated’
• May mean we ignore the views or values of another society when interpreting research findings

Question 23

What are the 2 cultural bias approaches to research?

Answer 23

1. Etic approach
2. Emic approach

Question 24

What is an etic approach?

Answer 24

• Amplifies cultural bias
• Research is carried out across cultures in order to discover what elements of a behaviour might be universal
• Seeks to develop universal nomothetic theories about human nature

Question 25

What is the research to support an etic approach?

Answer 25

• Berry replicated Asch’s conformity study to see whether the US conformity rates were repeated among Temne people of Sierra Leone or the Inuit of Canada
• The Temne had high rates of conformity but the Inuit had low rates
• The difference was put down to alternative living styles
• Therefore, conformity is not a universal behaviour

Question 26

What are the issues with an etic approach?

Answer 26

• May assume that these behaviours are universal when they’re not
• This leads to a researcher making an imposed etic as cultural differences are ignored

Question 27

What is an example of an imposed etic and the problems it may lead to?

Answer 27

• Definitions of abnormality
• Rack claims that African Caribbeans in Britain are sometimes diagnosed as mentally ill on the basis of behaviour which is perfectly normal in their subculture
• He says this is due to the ignorance of African Caribbean subculture on the part of white psychiatrists

Question 28

What is an emic approach?

Answer 28

• Helps to reduce cultural bias (can overcome the problem of imposed etic)
• 1 culture is studied in order to discover culture specific behaviour
• Findings will only be generalised to the culture they have been studying

Question 29

What is a problem with an emic approach?

Answer 29

It’s very hard to get a true understanding of the culture if you’re not a member of it (especially when carrying out experiments where there is limited contact and a small sample)

Question 30

What is cultural relativism?

Answer 30

The principle of regarding the beliefs, values and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself

Question 31

How can culture relativism be reduced?

Answer 31

1. Don’t attempt to extrapolate findings/theories to cultures that aren’t represented in the research sample
2. Use researchers who are native to/familiar with the culture being investigated
3. Carry out cross cultural research rather than research with a sole culture

Question 32

If the point is:

The problems of ethnocentrism have now led to indigenous psychologies, which is the development of different groups or theories in different countries.

What is the evidence, explanation and link?

Answer 32

Evidence- For example, Afrocentrism is a movement whose central proposition is that all black people have their roots in their Africa and that psychological theories concerning such people must therefore be African centred and express African views.

Explanation- This approach suggests that the values and culture of Europeans at worst devalue non European people, and at best are irrelevant to the life and culture of people of African descent.

Link- Ultimately, indigenous psychologies can help us to reduce cultural bias in psychology.

Question 33

If the point is:

The consequences of cultural bias can be immensely damaging.

What is the evidence, explanation and link?

Answer 33

Evidence- Yerkes’ skewed intelligence test inaccurately measured African Americans’ intelligence as much lower, due to the biased test which favoured white participants. This limited proportional opportunities during WW1.

Explanation- These theories may inappropriately affect minorities and create unfair stereotypes, such as low intelligence in this case. As a result, many theories that fail to include a cultural impact on society can be deemed as socially sensitive.

Link- Ultimately, more work needs to be done to ensure that theories consider their societal impact before being published.

Question 34

If the point is:

A concern for many psychologists revolves around how a true science seeks general laws of behaviour, and how cultural diversity may jeopardise this.

What is the evidence, explanation and link?

Answer 34

Evidence- For example, those that emphasise nurture in behaviour believe this provides a more valid and true account of behaviour.

Explanation- The use of nomothetic laws can be useful in helping as many people as possible, but if there are regional differences in behaviour, these interventions and treatments are only going to be effective in small clusters of the world. Cultural diversity means that research has to take place in every conceivable culture in order to explain behaviour accurately.

Link- This could imply that attending to cultural bias can have both strengths and weaknesses for psychology as a whole.

Question 35

If the point is:

Mental health manuals may potentially be altering the way cultures diagnose illnesses to more American norms.

What is the evidence, explanation and link?

Answer 35

Evidence- For example, the Americanisation of mental health has led to significant changes in how Japan viewed the symptoms of depression. Previously seen phenomena in Japan are not included in the DSM5, leading that society to abandon its symptom pool of depression in favour of more American norms.

Explanation- This has huge effects upon the accuracy of diagnosis, as it rejects regional and cultural interpretations of a disorder. For instance, the DSM forces American interpretations on mental illness to any country that uses it, and may lessen the validity of both classification and diagnosis.

Link- Therefore, diagnoses manuals may harm a cultures ability to treat mental illness, due to the cultural biases of American led interpretations of mental illness.

Question 36

What are the evaluation points for culture bias?

Answer 36

+ The problems of ethnocentrism have now led to indigenous psychologies, which is the development of different groups of theories in different countries
– The consequences of cultural bias can be immensely damaging
– A concern for many psychologists revolves around how a true science seeks general laws of behaviour, and how cultural diversity may jeopardise this
– Mental health manuals may potentially be altering the way cultures diagnose illnesses to more American norms