issues and debates Flashcards
what is gender bias?
when psychological research/theory may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or women (usually women)
bias also undermines psychology’s claims to universality - what is universality?
any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all
what are the two types of gender bias?
alpha bias
beta bias
what is alpha bias?
research that focuses on differences between men and women
tends to present a view that exaggerates these differences
what is an example of alpha bias?
freud’s 91905) theory of psychosexual development:
during phallic stage: both boys and girls develop a desire for their opposite sex parent:
boys: creates strong castration anxiety (resolved when boy identifies w father)
girls: eventual identification w same sex parent = weaker, so superego is weaker (it develops as a result of taking on same moral perspective as same sex parent)
therefore girls/women are morally inferior to boys
what is an example of alpha bias favour women in the psychodynamic approach?
chodorow (1968) suggested daughters and mothers have a greater connectedness than sons and mothers bc of biological similarities
as a result of child’s closeness, women develop better abilities to bond w others n empathise
what is beta bias?
research that focuses on similarities between men and women
tends to present a view that ignores or minimises differences
how is the fight or flight response one example of beta bias?
biological research has generally favoured using male animals as female behaviour is affected by regular hormone changes due to ovulation
this ignores any possible differences and assumed both males and females respond to threatening situations with fight or flight
what is the tend and befriend response described by shelley taylor et al (2000)?
love hormone oxytocin is more plentiful in females and they respond to stress by increasing oxytocin production
this reducing fight or flight response and enhances a preference for tend and befriend (evolved response for looking after others)
alpha and beta bias are caused by androcentrism - what is androcentrism?
when normal behaviour is judged according to a male standard
how has psychology presented a male dominated view of the world?
american psychological association published a list of 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century with only 6 women - suggests psychology has been traditionally been a subject produced by males for males and abt males.
how is it a limitation of gender bias that gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring when they are not?
maccoby and kaclin (1974) presented findings of several gender studies which concluded girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability
-> suggested the differences are hardwired into the brain before birth
however joel et al (2015) used brain scanning and found no such gender differences in brain structures showing it is possible it was popularised as it fitted existing stereotypes
suggests we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be better explained as social stereotypes
what is the counterpoint to this limitation?
does not mean psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in the brain:
ingalhalikar et al. (2014) suggests that the popular social stereotype of females are better at multitasking may have some biological truth to it ( woman’s brain may benefit from better connection between R and L hemisphere than in a man’s brain)
suggests there may be biological differences but we still should be wary of exaggerating the effect they have on behaviour
how is it a limitation that gender bias promotes sexism in the research process?
women remain underrepresented in uni departments esp in science.
murphy et al (2014) shows though the undergraduate intake is mainly female, lecturers are more likely to be male
means this may disadvantage female participants as more research is conducted by men e.g male researcher may expect females to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks
means institutional structures and methods of psych may produce findings that are gender biased
how is it a limitation that research challenging gender biases may not be published?
formancowicz et al (2018) analysed 1000+ articles relating to gender published over 8 yrs: found research on gender bias is funded less and is published by less prestigious journals meaning fewer scholars are aware of it or apply it in their own work
researchers argued that this still held true when gender bias was compared w other forms of bias, and when other factors were controlled.
suggests gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias
what is cultural bias?
a tendency to interpret all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of one culture, ignoring all effects that cultural differences might have on behaviour
what was heinrich’s (2010) study and findings regarding cultural bias and universality?
reviewed 100s of studies in psych journals: found 68% of research participants came from US and 96% from industrialised nations
suggests that what we know ab human behaviour has a strong cultural bias
what does the term W.E.I.R.D mean and what does it mean for people from non-westernised, less educated and poorer cultures?
Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies
means those people are see as ‘abnormal’, ‘inferior’ or ‘unusual’
what is ethnocentrism?
judging other cultures by the standards and value’s of one’s own culture: the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture -> leads to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures
how is ainsworth and bell’s (1970) strange situation an example of ethnocentrimsm?
criticised as only reflecting the norms of american culture:
conducted research on attachment type, suggesting that ‘ideal’ attachment was characterised by the babies showing moderate amounts of distress when left alone by the mother figure (typical of secure attachment)
how did this lead to a misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries, which were seen to deviate from the american norm?
e.g japanese infants were more likely to be classed as insecurely attached as they showed considerable distress during separation (takahashi 1986)
likely the finding is due to the fact japanese babies are rarely separated from their mother
what is cultural relativism?
the idea that norms and values asw as ethics and moral standards, can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts
what is an etic approach (defined by berry [1969]) ?
looks at behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal
what is an etmic approach (defined by berry [1969]) ?
functions fro inside a culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture
how is ainsworth and bell’s (1970) strange situation an example of imposed etic?
studied behaviour inside one culture (america) then assumed their ideal attachment type and method for assessing it could be applied universally
what suggestion did berry (1969) make which shows psychologists should be mindful of the cultural relativism of their work?
psych has been guilty of an imposed etic approach: arguing that theories, models etc are universal when they came ab through emic research inside a single culture
the things they discover may only make sense from the perspective of the culture they were discovered in
