Gender & culture Flashcards
What are the definitions of gender and culture?
Gender is more than our biological sex (XY or XX chromosome) - also expressed through social and culturally learnt norms
Culture is defined as the values, ideas, customs and behavioural norms of a particular group or society
What is the essay plan for the gender & culture essay? (4 points)
No 1. for both: Universal or Unique
Nomothetic: WMM
Idiographic: Case studies
Gender:
2) Biased study samples (andro/gynocentric)
+ Scott Van Zeeland
Culture:
2) Ethnocentrism
+ Al Zahrani and Kaplowitz
+ Heston
+ Luhrmann
3) Etic vs. Emic
+ Sebastian-Hernandez Gil
+ Hayne
How is whether a behaviour is universal or unique the most important issue? (2 points)
If a characteristic or behaviour is found in all cultures or shared within a gender, it can be called universal - there may be some genetics underpinning the generalisation (nomothetic)
When characteristics vary between cultures and within genders then it can be deemed as unique (idiographic)
How does the WMM relate to the use of the nomothetic approach in psychology? (3 points)
Cognitive psychology memory models are largely based on studies which have taken nomothetic approaches, investigating memory recall among large groups
Uses theories like the WMM that state that short-term memory is split into the visual-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop and central executive
Supported by Baddeley & Hitch’s dual-task research:
+ Pps struggled to complete two visual tasks at the same time
+ Could easily complete them separately - they used the limited capacity of the VSS
How is the idiographic approach used in psychology and does it relate to gender and culture? (4 points)
Idiographic case studies like Clive Wearing and HM validate the memory models models
They are on men from Western cultures - unrepresentative of excluded demographic features like gender and culture
E.g. differences in schemas
Memory functioning may differ between genders due to gender stereotypes and differential exposure to media
Schemas confabulate memory (as shown by Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study), resulting in males and females having different memories based on the schemas they possess
What is ‘ethnocentrism’? (2 points)
Research is centred on one particular culture or group of people - usually on Western ideologies and European perspectives
Can be imposed on other cultures as a standard
How does Al-Zahrani and Kaplowitz support culture affecting human behaviour? (4 points)
Individualism - promotes independence and autonomy, typically of Western origin
Collectivism - promotes group harmony and social hierarchy, typically of Eastern origin
Al-Zahrani and Kaplowitz (1993):
Found Saudis, a collectivist culture, tended to self-report more negative out-group bias than individualistic Americans
Prejudice may develop because of different types of culture
What are 2 studies with cultural issues involving ethnocentricism? (4 points)
Heston:
Sz diagnosis:
Experimental group (adopted pps with Sz biological mother): 10.6%
Control group: 0%
All pps were in Oregon State psychiatric hospitals - not representative of other cultures as perceptions and acceptance of Sz as a clinical disorder vary across the world
Luhrmann et al (2015):
Compared 20 people from different cultural backgrounds with serious psychotic disorders including Sz
Hearing voices:
California: ‘intrusive unreal thoughts’,
South Indian: ‘useful guidance’
West African: ‘morally good and causally powerful’
How does Scott Van Zeeland relate to gender-biased study samples being used in psychology? (4 points)
Androcentric research - centred on a male demographic of participants or perspective
Most of the research conducted in clinical psychology on anorexia is gynocentric - centred on a female demographic of participants or perspective
Scott Van Zealand:
+ Investigated gene variants which might play a role in anorexia
+ Found that the two gene variants which showed the strongest association with anorexia were the Estrogen Receptor Beta gene (ESR2) and the EPHX2
Involved over 3000 DNA samples but all were taken from female participants - not representative of anorexia in men
How is gender bias in studies justified? (3 points)
Whilst androcentric/gynocentric research limits representativeness, it is justified as gender-specific behaviours are prevalent and require gender-specific focus
E.g. Van Zeeland
Gynocentrism may be a justified error because more women suffer from anorexia compared to men (ratio of 10:1)
Also: males and conflict (Sherif et al)
What is ‘etic’ and ‘emic’ research? (2 points)
Etic research aims to discover what all humans have in common - leads to an ‘imposed etic’ as observations are generalised from one culture to another with cultural variations not considered
Emic research (cultural relativism) aims to examine culture-specific phenomena by studying behaviour through the lens of a member of that culture
Which 2 studies relate to cultural bias in psychology? (3 points)
Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil (2012):
Used an emic approach to find out that Spanish-speaking populations had lower average digit spans
Hayne (2000):
Found that Maori people could recall memories from approximately one year earlier (at 2 years old) than populations from Western cultures
Culture is seen to impact psychological research - memory models may be dependent on native language and social norms
What is the conclusion of your gender-culture essay? (2 points)
Ultimately, you cannot disregard gender during psychological research, due to underlying, predetermined differences such as hormones, genetics, evolution and socialisation
Whilst andro/gyno/ethnocentric research limits representativeness, cultural research must be continued as specific behaviours are prevalent due to socialisation - should be inquired about instead of discriminated
