Issues And Debates: Gender And Culuture Bias Flashcards
What is cultural bias
Cultural bias refers to interpreting and judging human behaviour based on norms and experiences of one’s own culture
What is gender bias
Gender bias refers to the tendency to favor one gender over the other in psychological research, often leading to misrepresentations or unfair treatment of one gender
What is a bias in psychology?
A systematic error or influence that affects the outcomes or interpretations of psychological research
What is universality
Universality refers to the concept that psychological findings, theories, or principles can be applied to all people, regardless of their culture, gender, ethnicity or other individual differences.
What is an alpha bias?
An alpha bias occurs where differences between genders in research results are exaggerated, which can lead to reinforcement of stereotypes.
What is a beta bias?
A beta bias occurs where differences between genders in research results are undermined, leading to a minimisation of gender differences
What is androcentrism?
Androcentrism refers to the practice of interpreting or studying behaviour from a male-centred perspective, often treating male experience’s or norms as the standard
What is ethnocentrism?
Where researchers consider their own culture or ethnic group as the norm / superior and use it to view and judge other cultures, which can lead to misinterpretation or undervaluation of cultural beliefs.
What are indigenous psychologists?
People who come from non-western cultures and whose work is based on understanding psychology from the perspective of their own cultural context. They are used to counteract ethnocentrism.
What is cultural relativism?
The principle that human behaviour should be understood within the culture it occurs in
What is an etic approach?
One that study’s human behaviour from a universal perspective using concepts and methods that are considered objective and cross-cultural to establish universal laws
What is an emic approach
An emic approach refers to studying psychological phenomena from an insider’s perspective within a particular context, emphasising understanding behaviour from the viewpoint of the people in that culture
What is an imposed etic?
Where research is applied to other cultures as universal despite cultural differences
What is cross cultural research?
Cross cultural research refers to the study of human behaviour across different cultures to understand how cultural factors influence human behavior, thoughts, and emotions. The aim is to compare and contrast behaviors, values, and experiences between cultures to uncover both universal aspects of human psychology (that are common across cultures) and culture-specific factors (that vary between cultures).
What did Berry (1969) suggest?
He suggested psychologists have often been guilty of using imposed etics and that instead we should use an emic approach to make psychologists more mindful in their research and to recognise cultural relativism
What were the biases in Wilson (1975) sociobiological theory of relationship formation?
Androcentrism, as he says it’s against the nature of a woman to ‘spread her seed’ as a man does, but that it’s natural for a man to. Alpha bias, as it exaggerates the difference between the differences between men and women in terms of their relationship behaviours, as men look for short term relationships whereas females are more selective
What were the biases in Freud’s psychosexual stages of development
He suggested that during the phallic stage women had to accept their ‘penis envy’ and their inferiority to men. Androcentrism and alpha bias as it takes a male centric view (inferiority part) and alpha bias as development differences over exaggerated
What were the biases in Kohlberg (1973) stage theory of moral development
Imposed etic and ethnocentrism, as he argued his findings were universal and applied his own cultural norms to other cultures. Beta bias, as he argued that results represented both men and women. Androcentrism as he claimed women generally reached a lower level of development
What did Taylor (2000) suggest about early fight or flight research?
She argued early research into fight or flight was beta bias as it was based exclusively on male animals yet assumed universal. She said that female biology has developed to inhibit the fight or flight response, shifting attention to caring for offspring and forming defensive networks with other females (tend and befriend)
Where were the biases in Asch’s (1951) line study?
It used only American males, yet results were generalised and considered universal. Imposed etic, ethnocentrism, beta bias, androcentrism as it fails to acknowledge gender differences and assumes male findings are standard
What were the biases in Ainsworth’s strange situation (1970) study
Imposed American etic of ‘most desirable’ secure attachment type, and ignored cultural differences. Japan + Germany where norms favour insecure types. Also ethnocentric.
What were the biases in Milgram’s (1969) study into obedience
He used only American males, yet he generalised his results to be universal, so beta bias and androcentrism, imposed etic and ethnocentrism. As he establishes his own culture / his own gender as the standard.
