Issues And Debates Flashcards
What is gender bias?
Treating men and women differently based on stereotypes rather than real differences. (e.g. using men instead of women in a study).
What is androcentrism?
Patriarchal; ‘normal’ behaviour is judged by a male standard (as a result of beta-bias).
- theories based on male behaviour but applied to females.
What is beta bias?
Theories that ignore or minimise differences between males and females.
What is alpha bias?
Theories that exaggerate the differences between males and females.
What is universality?
Facts about human behaviour that can be applied to all; objective and consistent over time and cultures.
What are the evaluations of gender bias?
1) . Problems of gender bias in psychology.
2) . Gender bias promotes sexism.
3) . Gender bias leads to reflexivility.
4) . Feminist psychologists explain how gender bias can be avoided.
How is there problems of gender bias in psychology?
It can have damaging consequences which affect women’s lives, and also damage the methodology.
- misleading assumptions of women in society.
How does gender bias promote sexism?
Women tend to be labelled as irrational by men in research, as men are the most dominant researchers.
How does the understanding of gender bias lead to reflexivity?
Researchers use their work to understand the values they transmit, some researchers embrace gender bias in order to receive results.
How do feminist psychologists propose how gender bias can be avoided?
Worrell (1992) =
sets criteria that researchers can follow to avoid gender bias –> using women in research rather than being objects to observe.
What is cultural bias?
Judging all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions (cultural differences may be seen as ‘abnormal’).
- e.g. only using US participants in Asch’s study, then generalising result to all cultures.
What is ethnocentrism?
Belief that a persons group is central or superior to others.
- e.g. Strange Situation reflected norms of US culture.
What is cultural relativism?
Viewing a culture behaviour in the context of the culture in which it originates.
- e.g. understanding that hearing voices is normal in some cultures.
What is imposed etic?
Theory developed in one country, and using it to study the behaviour of people in another country.
What is an emic approach?
Culture-bond =
something that only applies in one country.
What are the evaluations of cultural bias in psychology?
1) . Distinction between individualism and collectivism may no longer apply anymore.
2) . Recognition of cultural relativism and universals.
3) . Cross-cultural research is prone to demand characteristics.
4) . Cross-cultural research challenges Western assumptions.
How come the distinction between individualism and collectivism no longer applies in psychology?
Refer to culture in the context of individualism =
Takano and Osaka (1999) =
- 14/15 studies compared the US and Japan found no evidence of a distinction between the cultures.
- suggests seeing the world from an individualistic view is less of an issue.
How does imposed etic allow the recognition of cultural relativism and universals?
Although some behaviours are culturally relative, some are universal =
Ekman (1998) suggests facial movements and emotions (e.g. reciprocity and interactional synchrony) are universal.
How come cross-cultural research is prone to demand characteristics?
As people outside of the Western world aren’t familiar with the research tradition, they may be more affected by demand characteristics.
How does cross-culture research challenge Western assumptions?
Research in other cultures highlights Western views aren’t universal, allowing us to be more sensitive to individual differences and cultural relativism.
How can cultural bias lead to observer bias?
Can only observe behaviours that suit their cultural views =
- e.g. Mead has been criticised for observing New Guinea in her ‘Western goggle’.
What is free will?
Assumes people choose their behaviour, influences will be rejected.
What theory uses free will?
Humanistic.
What is determinism?
The view that behaviour is influenced by forces out of our control.
How is determinism divided?
Soft =
Behaviour has a cause but we have conscious, mental control over our behaviour.
Hard =
Behaviour is caused by events outside of our control –> free will is an illusion.
What are the different approaches to determinism?
1) . Biological.
2) . Environmental.
3) . Psychic.
4) . Scientific.
What is biological determinism?
Behaviour is determined by internal biological factors;
- Psychological = ANS on anxiety.
- Genetic = mental disorders.
- Hormones = testosterone on aggression.
Evaluate biological determinism?
100% biological determinism is rarely found in any behaviour =
- MZ = 100%, but only 47% concordance for schizophrenia.
What is environmental determinism?
Behaviourist approach =
behaviour is controlled by past events and controlled by external forces in the environment (e.g. reinforcement).
