ISSUES AND DEBATES 16 MARKERS
Discuss gender bias in psychology (16 marks)
Within psychology, there are two different types of bias: alpha and beta. Alpha bias is
when the differences are real and exaggerated and it results in one gender being
devalued. An example of this would be Freud’s psychoanalysis which viewed femininity as
a failed form of masculinity, this could lead to women being judged negatively and
therefore is considered alpha bias. The other type is beta bias, in which the differences
between the genders are ignored or minimised and the findings are generalised to
everyone. An example of this would be the ‘fight or flight’ response in the biological
approach which was generalised to both genders. However, it was later found that women
actually ‘tend and befriend’ and therefore the ‘fight or flight’ shouldn’t have been
generalised to women and the differences between the genders shouldn’t have been
ignored. As well as this, the idea of androcentrism is important in gender bias in
psychology as many psychological theories are developed from androcentric studies.
Androcentrism is when a psychological theory is developed from a male point of view. Both
alpha and beta bias and androcentrism obscure the central aim of psychology, which is to
have universality and theories that can apply to everyone.
A limitation of gender bias within psychology is that bias methods are used to test and
observe differences and this usually goes unchallenged. This could result in us thinking
there are differences between genders in areas even when there aren’t. This could reduce
the validity of a study and cause an alpha bias.
Psychologists have many ways to reduce gender bias within psychology. One way to
reduce it is to take a feminist approach. The feminist approach agrees that there are real
differences, for example, biological differences like hormone levels. An example of taking a
feminist approach is Eagly, who found that women are less effective leaders than men.
This lead to the development of training that helps women become better leaders. This is a
strength because it not only lead to the development of training that could help women get
more jobs but also because it avoids beta bias and means that women are able to be
trained in a more effective way rather than the same as men which could not be as helpful
for them.
Another way in which gender bias can be reduced in psychology is through the
development of theories that emphasise the value of women. For example, Cornwell found
that women are better at learning. This research focuses on the positive attributes of
women meaning that negative stereotypes can be challenged. This is a strength because
it avoids beta bias and avoids women being devalued.
, Discuss culture bias in psychology (16 marks)
Culture bias is the tendency to judge all people int terms of your own cultural tendencies.
There are two different types of bias that can be seen: alpha bias and beta bias. Alpha
bias is when the differences between cultural groups are emphasised and beta bias is
when the differences between cultural groups are ignored or minimised. Different things
can lead to these types of bias. For example, ethnocentrism can lead to beta bias.
Ethnocentrism is when a study is seen from the researchers own cultural point of view as
they view their own culture as the ‘norm’. An example of this would be the American IQ test
that is used globally, it assumes that everyone has the same knowledge / needs to know
the same information as people in America, which minimises the differences between
cultures. Cultural relativism is the idea that we should study behaviour in the context of the
original culture, which aims to reduce culture bias within psychology.
A strength of culture bias is that it has lead to ‘indigenous psychologies’. For example, the
idea of Afrocentrism. This is the understanding that all black people have African roots.
This is a strength and matters because it has lead to the development of theories that are
relevant to the life and culture of Africans. This avoids beta bias, for example, many
psychologists would diagnose African Americans with schizophrenia even though hearing
‘voices’ and speaking to ancestors is something that is traditional and common within
some African cultures and therefore doesn’t necessarily mean the patient has
schizophrenia. This shows how important it is that Afrocentrism has been focused on as it
avoids wrongful diagnosis.
However, a limitation of culture bias in psychology is that it has lead to development of
culturally specific theories. For example, Ainsworth’s strange situation. She studied
behaviour with a single culture (America) and then assumed their ideal attachment type
(secure) could be applied universally. However, Takashi found that Japanese mothers are
rarely separated from their infants so the infants would show high levels of separation
anxiety purely because of their culture. This shows how the strange situation could only
apply to western culture. This is a weakness because it shows that generalising culture
specific findings to everyone is ineffective as it can’t be applied to all cultures.
Psychologists have developed ways of dealing with culture bias. One of the ways to deal
with it is to select samples from different cultural groups. It was found, in a survey on social
psychology, that psychological studies consisted of 66% American samples. The other
35% consisted of 32% European and 2% from the rest of the world. If psychologists
selected more even proportions of samples from all over the world their research would
inevitably be less culturally bias as they wouldn’t see it from a primarily western point of
view.
Discuss gender bias in psychology (16 marks)
Within psychology, there are two different types of bias: alpha and beta. Alpha bias is
when the differences are real and exaggerated and it results in one gender being
devalued. An example of this would be Freud’s psychoanalysis which viewed femininity as
a failed form of masculinity, this could lead to women being judged negatively and
therefore is considered alpha bias. The other type is beta bias, in which the differences
between the genders are ignored or minimised and the findings are generalised to
everyone. An example of this would be the ‘fight or flight’ response in the biological
approach which was generalised to both genders. However, it was later found that women
actually ‘tend and befriend’ and therefore the ‘fight or flight’ shouldn’t have been
generalised to women and the differences between the genders shouldn’t have been
ignored. As well as this, the idea of androcentrism is important in gender bias in
psychology as many psychological theories are developed from androcentric studies.
Androcentrism is when a psychological theory is developed from a male point of view. Both
alpha and beta bias and androcentrism obscure the central aim of psychology, which is to
have universality and theories that can apply to everyone.
A limitation of gender bias within psychology is that bias methods are used to test and
observe differences and this usually goes unchallenged. This could result in us thinking
there are differences between genders in areas even when there aren’t. This could reduce
the validity of a study and cause an alpha bias.
Psychologists have many ways to reduce gender bias within psychology. One way to
reduce it is to take a feminist approach. The feminist approach agrees that there are real
differences, for example, biological differences like hormone levels. An example of taking a
feminist approach is Eagly, who found that women are less effective leaders than men.
This lead to the development of training that helps women become better leaders. This is a
strength because it not only lead to the development of training that could help women get
more jobs but also because it avoids beta bias and means that women are able to be
trained in a more effective way rather than the same as men which could not be as helpful
for them.
Another way in which gender bias can be reduced in psychology is through the
development of theories that emphasise the value of women. For example, Cornwell found
that women are better at learning. This research focuses on the positive attributes of
women meaning that negative stereotypes can be challenged. This is a strength because
it avoids beta bias and avoids women being devalued.
, Discuss culture bias in psychology (16 marks)
Culture bias is the tendency to judge all people int terms of your own cultural tendencies.
There are two different types of bias that can be seen: alpha bias and beta bias. Alpha
bias is when the differences between cultural groups are emphasised and beta bias is
when the differences between cultural groups are ignored or minimised. Different things
can lead to these types of bias. For example, ethnocentrism can lead to beta bias.
Ethnocentrism is when a study is seen from the researchers own cultural point of view as
they view their own culture as the ‘norm’. An example of this would be the American IQ test
that is used globally, it assumes that everyone has the same knowledge / needs to know
the same information as people in America, which minimises the differences between
cultures. Cultural relativism is the idea that we should study behaviour in the context of the
original culture, which aims to reduce culture bias within psychology.
A strength of culture bias is that it has lead to ‘indigenous psychologies’. For example, the
idea of Afrocentrism. This is the understanding that all black people have African roots.
This is a strength and matters because it has lead to the development of theories that are
relevant to the life and culture of Africans. This avoids beta bias, for example, many
psychologists would diagnose African Americans with schizophrenia even though hearing
‘voices’ and speaking to ancestors is something that is traditional and common within
some African cultures and therefore doesn’t necessarily mean the patient has
schizophrenia. This shows how important it is that Afrocentrism has been focused on as it
avoids wrongful diagnosis.
However, a limitation of culture bias in psychology is that it has lead to development of
culturally specific theories. For example, Ainsworth’s strange situation. She studied
behaviour with a single culture (America) and then assumed their ideal attachment type
(secure) could be applied universally. However, Takashi found that Japanese mothers are
rarely separated from their infants so the infants would show high levels of separation
anxiety purely because of their culture. This shows how the strange situation could only
apply to western culture. This is a weakness because it shows that generalising culture
specific findings to everyone is ineffective as it can’t be applied to all cultures.
Psychologists have developed ways of dealing with culture bias. One of the ways to deal
with it is to select samples from different cultural groups. It was found, in a survey on social
psychology, that psychological studies consisted of 66% American samples. The other
35% consisted of 32% European and 2% from the rest of the world. If psychologists
selected more even proportions of samples from all over the world their research would
inevitably be less culturally bias as they wouldn’t see it from a primarily western point of
view.
