Issues and Debates Flashcards
What is Gender Bias?
Different treatment/representation of males and females based on stereotypes and not on real differences. It is scientifically misleading, upholds stereotypes and validates discrimination
What is universitality?
Any characteristic that is capable of being applied to all despite differences in culture and upbringing
What is alpha bias?
Alpha bias refers to the idea of a psychologist exaggerating differences between men and women. An example of this is Freud’s oedipal conflict which suggests that a boy will gain castration anxiety of his father whereas a girls superego will become weaker
What is beta bias?
Beta bias refers to the idea of a psychologist that ignores or minimises differences and believes that their research van be applied to both men and women. An example of this in the fight or flight response which has only been tested on male animals as female animals were deemed to be hormonal. However new research suggests that females have more oxytocin which creates differences
What is androcentrism?
Androcentrism refers to the idea of research that is focused on male behaviour and is judged according to male standard. Womens behaviour on the other hand is deemed as misunderstood
What is gynocentrism?
Refers to research that is centred on or focuses on women
Apply gender bias to asch’s research
One issue is that Asch lacks population validity
His sample consists of 123 male college students from America and is therefore bias
Asch assumed that the results of his research would apply to females and this is known as beta bias, where psychologists minimise differences between males and females. This results in a bias view that assumes men and women are alike in conformity and therefore shows an androcentric view
This matters as it means we are unable to generalise results to females
Evaluate gender bias
One strength is that simply being aware of gender bias is a positive. By developing an understanding of bias psychologists have put in a number of solutions. For example some psychologists have put in theories that emphasise the importance and value of women. Cornwell et all suggested that females are better at learning as they are more attentive and organised. As a result this challenges gender stereoypes and gender bias research
Evaluate gender bias
One limitation is that is may create leading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereoypes and validate discrimination. Dalton suggested that at a certain time of their menstrual cycle women are more likely to commit crimes, have accidents, commit suicide and have a lower IQ. This could have a negative impact as it shows them to be volatile and victims of their own biology. Can cause discrimination in the workplace
Evaluate gender bias
One limitation is that it is important not to make judgements about male behaviour as well. For example research has suggested that males are less sensitive than females and that they can be more aggressive. It could be that men find themselves discriminated against in the workplace when applying for jobs such as counsellors that require senisitivity. It could also cause bias judgement. Therefore when we publish papers it is important to provide a balanced view that does not uphold discrimination
Evaluate gender bias
One limitation is that we must be careful about sexism in the psychology profession. A lack of women at the senior level means that female concerns may not be reflected in the questions asked. This is a problem as it may mean that research focuses on male areas of interest and not female areas so therefore targeted research may not eb created in abundance.
What is cultural bias?
Cultural bias refers to judging all phenomena in the lens of you own culture, ignoring cultural differences
What is alpha bias? (Culture)
When a theory exaggerates differences between different cultures and assumed they are profoundly different
What is beta bias (Culture)?
When the differences between cultures are minimised and therefore people think all theories can apply to all cultures
What is ethnocentrism?
Judging others cultures by one’s own standards. In an extreme form it may be the superiority of one’s culture which can cause prejudice
Give an example of ethnocentrism
The Strange Situation is ethnocentric as it takes Ainsworths American views and beliefs and applies them to infant from other cultures despite the way they parent being different. They used in imposed etic
What is an imposed etic?
Studying inside one culture and then applying it to other cultures
What is an emic?
An emic fully studies a cultural with no cross cultural references or other influences on that culture
What is cultural relativism?
Refers to norms, values and standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts
Give an example of cultural relativism
Sternbergs study.
He studies intelligence but acknowledged that in some ‘less literate’ cultures this may be based on more co-ordination skills in comparison to the other cultures
Evaluate cultural difference
One limitation is that many classic studies are culturally bias. Both Asch and Milgram only used American men and when applied in other cultures they produced very different results. For example it was found that in Asch’s replication it was more conformity in collectivist cultures. This suggests social influence can only be applied in individualist cultures
Counterpoint: Due to media globalisation it is argued that there is not a distinct difference anymore. A review found that in 14 out of 15 studies showed that there was not difference between Japan and the USA. Suggests our labels are lazy and simplistic
Evaluate cultural bias
One strength is the emergence of cultural psychology. It is an emerging field that studies how people are shaped by their own culture. They avoid ethnocentric assumptions and take and emic approach. They conduct research inside the culture using indigenous researchers. Suggests modern psychologists are aware of bias and are taking steps to reduce it
Evaluate cultural bias
One limitation is that it has lead to prejudice against certain groups. In WW1 a group of soldiers created an intelligence quiz and this involved many ethnocentric viewpoints such as naming all the american presidents. When African-Americans scored the lowest they were mde fun of and deemed ‘mentally unfit’. They were also denied an education and professional oppurtunities. This illustrates how cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice and discriminiation
What is the free will vs determinism debate?
Refers to the idea of behaviour being either governed by internal/external processes or can we determine what we do. Different appraoches fall on different sides of the debate i.e. the humanistic approach argues free will whereas the biological approach argues that we are determined by internal processes
What is free will?
Human beings are self-determining and can make their own choices. It does not deny there may be other influences however it does reject these influences as being important.
What is determinism?
Individuals behaviour is shaped by internal or external forces rather than an individuals own will
What is hard determinism?
Also referred to a fatalism and suggets all human behaviour has a cause and a principle. It should be possible to identify and describe these causes. We cannot ocntrol these forces
What is soft determinism?
Idea put forward by James (1890). He thought that while it may be scientists jobs to determine our behaviour this does not retract from our own freedoms and we can make rational choices everyday
What is biological determinism?
Used in the biological approach. Emphasises the role of internal processes in behaviour such as the influence of genes on mental health. Modern day biologists would recognise how environment can also affect our behaviour
What is environmental determinsm?
Used in behaviourist approach. Skinner described our behaviour as a result of conditioning and free will being an illusion. Our behaviour is simply a sum of all reinforcement in our life
What is psychic determinism?
Used in the psychodynamic approach. He emphasised how our behaviour is a sum of all our conflicts in childhood and how they were repressed. There is not such thing as an accident
What is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations?
One of the basic principles in science is that every event has a cause and that cause can be explained using general laws. Knowledge of causes and formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to determine the future. An ideal for this is a lab experiment
