Paper 3 - Issues And Debates Flashcards
What is androcentrism?
Gender bias
Since the origins of Psychology it has very much been male dominated, with many more male psychologists.
Theories therefore tend to represent a male world-view.
This is described as Androcentrism.
May lead to Alpha or Beta bias.
What is alpha bias?
Gender bias
Alpha bias exaggerates the difference between men and women
Consequently theories that are alpha biased devalue one gender compared to another.
Example:
Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity, therefore exaggerating the difference between men and women.
His concept of penis envy and the Oedipus complex would suggest that women are morally inferior to men as they cannot fully develop a super ego – they have a weaker identification with their mother.
What is beta bias?
Gender bias
Beta bias minimises differences between men and women.
Consequently the needs of one gender (usually women) are ignored.
Example:
Stress research mainly focuses on men as variations in female hormone levels would make research more difficult.
It is assumed what is true for males will therefore be true for females from the male only research.
Taylor (2002) challenges this finding the female stress response to be “tend-and-befriend” rather than the male response of “fight-or-flight”.
What is universality?
Gender bias
Theories applying to all people, regardless of gender or culture.
What is feminist psychology?
- Re-examining the ‘facts’ about gender
- View of women as normal humans, not deficient men
- Skepticism towards biological determinism
- Research agenda focusing on womens’ concerns
- A psychology for women, rather than a psychology of women.
Bias in research methods
Gender bias
1) Institutional sexism:
Men predominate at senior researcher level
Research agenda follows male concerns, female concerns may be marginalised or ignored
2) Use of standardised procedures in research studies:
Women and men might respond differently to research situation
Women and men might be treated differently by researchers
Could create artificial differences or mask real ones
3) Dissemination of research results:
Publishing bias towards positive results
Research that finds gender differences more likely to get published than that which doesn’t
Exaggerates extent of gender differences
Reverse alpha bias
Gender bias
To overcome alpha bias some psychologists argue that we should develop theories which show the differences between men and women but emphasize the value of women.
Cornwell et al (2013)
- Girls in outperform boys on reading tests, while boys score at least as well on math and science tests as girls.
- Boys who perform equally as well as girls on reading, math, and science tests are graded less favorably by their teachers, but this less favorable treatment essentially vanishes when non-cognitive skills (motivation, perseverance etc.)are taken into account.
Avoiding beta bias
Gender bias
Equal treatment under law has allowed greater access for women to education etc.
However…
Hare-Mustin & Marecek (1988)
This draws attention away from special needs of women and differences in power between men and women.
For example equal rights to parental leave ignores the biological demands of pregnancy, childbirth and breast feeding, and subsequently disadvantages women.
Judith Worrell
Gender bias
In order to overcome gender bias:
Women should be studied in real life contexts
Women should genuinely participate in research rather than being the object of study
Diversity within groups of women should be examined, rather than making comparisons between women and men
Qualitative methods should be used rather than just quantitative
What is culture bias?
Cultural bias
The tendency to judge all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions.
What is ethnocentrism?
Cultural bias
Seeing things from the point of view of ourselves and our social groups.
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are opposites.
What is cultural relativism?
Cultural bias
The view that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are opposites.
What is IMPOSED ETIC?
Cultural bias
The research approach associated with ethnocentrism is IMPOSED ETIC – this is when a technique or theory developed in one culture is used to study the behaviour of people in another culture.
What is EMIC?
Cultural bias
The research approach associated with cultural relativism is EMIC – this is when individual cultures are studied and generalisations are only made within that culture.
The Chitling test (1968)
Cultural bias
Designed to demonstrate differences in understanding and culture between races, specifically between African Americans and Whites.
In determining how streetwise someone is, the Chitling Test may have validity, but there have been no studies demonstrating this.
Furthermore, the Chitling Test has only proved valid as far as face validity is concerned; no evidence has been brought to light on the Chitling predicting performance.
A demonstration of how cultural content on intelligence tests may lead to culturally biased score results.
