Issues and Debates
Gender Bias
Overview to help memorisation:
Alpha Bias (Freud’s Psychoanalytic)
Beta Bias (Taylor et al, 2000)
Androcentrism
Sieber and Stanley’s ethical issues - implications, public policy, validity)
Alpha Bias: A theory exaggerates differences between genders.
E.g, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory argues that women develop weaker superegos than men
who have ‘penis envy.’
Beta Bias: A theory ignores the differences between genders.
E.g., early research into the effects of stress in humans characterised the behavioural response
as fight or flight. However, this research was based solely on male animals and assumed these
behavioural responses were the same across genders. However, later research from Taylor et
al (2000) looked at female responses to stress and found their behaviour in response to stress
followed a pattern better characterised as ‘tend and befriend.’
Androcentrism: A perspective where male psychology and behaviours are viewed as the default
and normal. E.g., female tend and befriend behaviours could be viewed as abnormal as they
deviate from typical male behaviours.
However, such behaviours are only abnormal from an androcentric perspective - when studies
take account of differences between genders, the tend and befriend behaviours are seen as
normal.
Researchers may have pre-conceived gender stereotypes that affect how they treat
participants, resulting in investigator effects.
Publication bias may cause alpha bias. If a study finds no differences between genders, then
this may be seen as less psychologically interesting than a study that finds a big difference
between genders, making studies that find differences between genders more likely to get
published. This results in a publication bias towards studies that emphasise differences between
genders.
Culture Bias
Berry (1969) distinguishes between emic and etic research:
Emic: researching a culture from within to understand that culture specifically. Findings are not
applied to other cultures.
Etic: Conducting research from an outside perspective to discover universal truth about human
psychology (i.e. applying the findings to all people in all cultures).
, An imposed etic is an example of cultural bias and can lead to ethnocentrism: a perspective
where the behaviours of a certain ethnicity of culture are seen as the default and normal. As
such, any behaviour that deviates from the norms of that culture may be seen as abnormal.
For example, Ainsworth’s studies of infant attachment only looked at American infants and
concluded that secure attachment styles are the most psychologically healthy. From this
perspective, child-rearing practices in other countries may be seen as unhealthy or abnormal
rather than simply different.
For example, the American perspective may see German parents as cold and rejecting. But
from the German perspective, American parents may seem overly coddling, preventing the child
from becoming independent.
Etic research is not automatically bad. The point of much of psychology is to uncover universal,
nomothetic laws of human behaviour. And given that all humans in all cultures have a very
similar biology, there are likely to be many universal psychological truths. However, if
researchers assume their culture is the default (imposed etic), this introduces bias.
Psychological research can avoid cultural bias by being conscious of cultural relativism, i.e
differences between cultures.
Psychological research can avoid cultural bias by being conscious of cultural relativism
(differences between cultures).
Nature v Nurture
Overview to help memorisation:
Nature / Nativists
Twin studies - MZ/DZ, Gottesman 1991
48% 17%
Heritability coefficient - 1 to 0 - 0.79, Hiker
Nature / Empiricists
Tabula rasa
Skinner's learning theory
Positive reinforcement, operant conditioning. Consequences
NATURE
Nativists believe our behaviour is pre-determined by nature. They believe our behaviour is
explained by heredity - i.e inherited biological characteristics such as genetics.
Twin studies provide a way to assess the heritability of behaviour. Monozygotic twins have
identical genetics and so, if nativism were 100% correct, they would behave identically too.
However, monozygotic twins often have different personalities and preferences, suggesting the
environment plays a role in behaviour too.
Gender Bias
Overview to help memorisation:
Alpha Bias (Freud’s Psychoanalytic)
Beta Bias (Taylor et al, 2000)
Androcentrism
Sieber and Stanley’s ethical issues - implications, public policy, validity)
Alpha Bias: A theory exaggerates differences between genders.
E.g, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory argues that women develop weaker superegos than men
who have ‘penis envy.’
Beta Bias: A theory ignores the differences between genders.
E.g., early research into the effects of stress in humans characterised the behavioural response
as fight or flight. However, this research was based solely on male animals and assumed these
behavioural responses were the same across genders. However, later research from Taylor et
al (2000) looked at female responses to stress and found their behaviour in response to stress
followed a pattern better characterised as ‘tend and befriend.’
Androcentrism: A perspective where male psychology and behaviours are viewed as the default
and normal. E.g., female tend and befriend behaviours could be viewed as abnormal as they
deviate from typical male behaviours.
However, such behaviours are only abnormal from an androcentric perspective - when studies
take account of differences between genders, the tend and befriend behaviours are seen as
normal.
Researchers may have pre-conceived gender stereotypes that affect how they treat
participants, resulting in investigator effects.
Publication bias may cause alpha bias. If a study finds no differences between genders, then
this may be seen as less psychologically interesting than a study that finds a big difference
between genders, making studies that find differences between genders more likely to get
published. This results in a publication bias towards studies that emphasise differences between
genders.
Culture Bias
Berry (1969) distinguishes between emic and etic research:
Emic: researching a culture from within to understand that culture specifically. Findings are not
applied to other cultures.
Etic: Conducting research from an outside perspective to discover universal truth about human
psychology (i.e. applying the findings to all people in all cultures).
, An imposed etic is an example of cultural bias and can lead to ethnocentrism: a perspective
where the behaviours of a certain ethnicity of culture are seen as the default and normal. As
such, any behaviour that deviates from the norms of that culture may be seen as abnormal.
For example, Ainsworth’s studies of infant attachment only looked at American infants and
concluded that secure attachment styles are the most psychologically healthy. From this
perspective, child-rearing practices in other countries may be seen as unhealthy or abnormal
rather than simply different.
For example, the American perspective may see German parents as cold and rejecting. But
from the German perspective, American parents may seem overly coddling, preventing the child
from becoming independent.
Etic research is not automatically bad. The point of much of psychology is to uncover universal,
nomothetic laws of human behaviour. And given that all humans in all cultures have a very
similar biology, there are likely to be many universal psychological truths. However, if
researchers assume their culture is the default (imposed etic), this introduces bias.
Psychological research can avoid cultural bias by being conscious of cultural relativism, i.e
differences between cultures.
Psychological research can avoid cultural bias by being conscious of cultural relativism
(differences between cultures).
Nature v Nurture
Overview to help memorisation:
Nature / Nativists
Twin studies - MZ/DZ, Gottesman 1991
48% 17%
Heritability coefficient - 1 to 0 - 0.79, Hiker
Nature / Empiricists
Tabula rasa
Skinner's learning theory
Positive reinforcement, operant conditioning. Consequences
NATURE
Nativists believe our behaviour is pre-determined by nature. They believe our behaviour is
explained by heredity - i.e inherited biological characteristics such as genetics.
Twin studies provide a way to assess the heritability of behaviour. Monozygotic twins have
identical genetics and so, if nativism were 100% correct, they would behave identically too.
However, monozygotic twins often have different personalities and preferences, suggesting the
environment plays a role in behaviour too.
