Gender bias
Universality; underlying human characteristics that is capable of being applied to all,
despite differences of experience and upbringing
Gender bias; when psychological research does not justifiably represent the
experiences and behaviour of the male/female categories
Alpha bias;
- research focused on differences between men and women (more often
devalue women)
- presents a view that exaggerates differences between men and women
- example; Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages (implied that a girl’s
superego is weaker because her identification with her same-sex parent
is weaker)
+ in this, Freud ultimately suggests that women are morally inferior to men
- alpha bias may favour women sometimes; Chodorow, 1968 suggests that
mothers and daughters have a greater connection
- therefore, women develop better abilities to bond and empathise with
others
Beta bias;
- research that focuses on similarities between men and women
- tends to present a view that ignores or minimises differences between men
and women
- example; fight or flight response, Taylor, 2000 suggested the tend and
befriend response (the ‘love’ hormone, oxytocin is released as a response to
stress in women)
- demonstrates how minimising gender differences may lead to a
misinterpretation of women's behaviour (and can lead to a misinterpretation of
men’s behaviour, too)
Androcentrism;
- alpha and beta bias are consequences of androcentrism
- psychology is very male-dominated (American Psychology Association
released a list of the 100 most influential psychologists and only 6 of them
were women)
- psychology is traditionally a subject made by men, for men and about men
- women’s behaviour has been misunderstood and medicalised (emotions,
such as enger, were assumed to be a sign of illness like the belief that having
a womb could cause hysteria)
Evaluation;
- gender differences are presented as fixed and enduring; data from
Maccoby and Jacklin that girls are better verbal ability and boys have better
spatial ability may have been popularised because it reinforced the social
stereotype that girls are ‘speakers’ and boys are ‘doers’ despite there being
no evidence of differences in brain structure
, - possible gender differences in the brain should still be studied; social
stereotype that women are better at multitasking may have biological truth
(women have better connections between the left and right hemispheres)
- sexism; women are underrepresented in university departments, lecturers are
more likely to be men, research bias that women may underperform, ect
- gender biased research may not be published; Formanowicz (2018)
analysed 1000 articles relating to gender bias + found that the research was
funded less or published by less prestigious journals (not taken seriously)
Cultural bias
Universality; underlying human characteristics that is capable of being applied to all,
despite differences of experience and upbringing
Cultural bias; the tendency to interpret all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of one
culture, ignoring the effect cultural differences may have on behaviour
Cultural bias (stats);
- Henrich, 2010 found that 68% of research participants were from the US
+ 96% from industrialised nations
- Arnett, 2008 found that 80% of research participants were psychology
undergraduates
---> demonstrates strong cultural bias
- WEIRD used to define people most likely to get picked as research
participants
+ (Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies)
Ethnocentrism;
- refers to the belief that one’s own culture is the superior group (a form of
cultural bias)
- Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” had been criticised for being too bound to
Western traditions and applied universally to other cultures
+ for example, most Japanese babies were classed as insecurely attached
because they showed considerable distress at separation (Takahashi, 1986)
+ but they were assessed on Western norms so it could be that Japanese
babies aren’t usually separated from their mothers
Etic; refers to psychological research that studies cross-cultural differences
Emic; refers to psychological research that fully studies one culture with no (or only
a secondary) cross-cultural focus
Cultural relativism;
- imposed etic; where findings from research studying one culture is applied
universally
- eg. Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation”
- Berry, (1969) argues that psychological research generally falls into cultural
bias by applying theories, models, findings, ect universally
- emic; refers to research that fully studies one culture with no cultural cross
focus
Universality; underlying human characteristics that is capable of being applied to all,
despite differences of experience and upbringing
Gender bias; when psychological research does not justifiably represent the
experiences and behaviour of the male/female categories
Alpha bias;
- research focused on differences between men and women (more often
devalue women)
- presents a view that exaggerates differences between men and women
- example; Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages (implied that a girl’s
superego is weaker because her identification with her same-sex parent
is weaker)
+ in this, Freud ultimately suggests that women are morally inferior to men
- alpha bias may favour women sometimes; Chodorow, 1968 suggests that
mothers and daughters have a greater connection
- therefore, women develop better abilities to bond and empathise with
others
Beta bias;
- research that focuses on similarities between men and women
- tends to present a view that ignores or minimises differences between men
and women
- example; fight or flight response, Taylor, 2000 suggested the tend and
befriend response (the ‘love’ hormone, oxytocin is released as a response to
stress in women)
- demonstrates how minimising gender differences may lead to a
misinterpretation of women's behaviour (and can lead to a misinterpretation of
men’s behaviour, too)
Androcentrism;
- alpha and beta bias are consequences of androcentrism
- psychology is very male-dominated (American Psychology Association
released a list of the 100 most influential psychologists and only 6 of them
were women)
- psychology is traditionally a subject made by men, for men and about men
- women’s behaviour has been misunderstood and medicalised (emotions,
such as enger, were assumed to be a sign of illness like the belief that having
a womb could cause hysteria)
Evaluation;
- gender differences are presented as fixed and enduring; data from
Maccoby and Jacklin that girls are better verbal ability and boys have better
spatial ability may have been popularised because it reinforced the social
stereotype that girls are ‘speakers’ and boys are ‘doers’ despite there being
no evidence of differences in brain structure
, - possible gender differences in the brain should still be studied; social
stereotype that women are better at multitasking may have biological truth
(women have better connections between the left and right hemispheres)
- sexism; women are underrepresented in university departments, lecturers are
more likely to be men, research bias that women may underperform, ect
- gender biased research may not be published; Formanowicz (2018)
analysed 1000 articles relating to gender bias + found that the research was
funded less or published by less prestigious journals (not taken seriously)
Cultural bias
Universality; underlying human characteristics that is capable of being applied to all,
despite differences of experience and upbringing
Cultural bias; the tendency to interpret all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of one
culture, ignoring the effect cultural differences may have on behaviour
Cultural bias (stats);
- Henrich, 2010 found that 68% of research participants were from the US
+ 96% from industrialised nations
- Arnett, 2008 found that 80% of research participants were psychology
undergraduates
---> demonstrates strong cultural bias
- WEIRD used to define people most likely to get picked as research
participants
+ (Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies)
Ethnocentrism;
- refers to the belief that one’s own culture is the superior group (a form of
cultural bias)
- Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” had been criticised for being too bound to
Western traditions and applied universally to other cultures
+ for example, most Japanese babies were classed as insecurely attached
because they showed considerable distress at separation (Takahashi, 1986)
+ but they were assessed on Western norms so it could be that Japanese
babies aren’t usually separated from their mothers
Etic; refers to psychological research that studies cross-cultural differences
Emic; refers to psychological research that fully studies one culture with no (or only
a secondary) cross-cultural focus
Cultural relativism;
- imposed etic; where findings from research studying one culture is applied
universally
- eg. Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation”
- Berry, (1969) argues that psychological research generally falls into cultural
bias by applying theories, models, findings, ect universally
- emic; refers to research that fully studies one culture with no cultural cross
focus
