Gender and Culture Bias

• Universality is the assumption that one perspective or set of attitudes or behaviours are the norm (usually those of the dominant group)
• Alpha bias occurs when researchers over-emphasize the differences between males and females
• Male/female traits, behaviours and characteristics are presented as fixed, stable and inevitable in alpha bias (generally negatively impacting females as most psychological research is/was conducted on men)
• Beta bias occurs when researchers ignore or downplay differences between males and females 
• Androcentrism means male-centered- The male viewpoint/behaviour becomes the ‘norm’ or the model for behaviour generally which could lead to female behaviour being viewed as ‘abnormal’ 
• Pro: Researchers who are aware of gender bias may practice reflexivity- A process of self-reflection that involves acknowledging and considering how one's own biases that may influence the research
• Cons: female researchers may receive less funding than their male colleagues as their role as serious psychologists may be questioned. Research which ignores or de-values the female experience/perspective is that prejudice, discrimination and sexism are viewed as normal and acceptable- lack of female representation gives the research external validity
• Culture bias occurs when one culture is either favoured over another culture or one culture is discriminated against via prejudicial attitudes or behaviour
• Ethnocentrism involves a belief (conscious or unconscious) that one's own culture is superior to other cultures, thereby rendering other cultures as 'strange/abnormal/odd/primitive'
• Imposed etic occurs when an observer attempts to generalise observations/findings from one culture to other cultures, ignoring the special and distinct features and characteristics of those unfamiliar cultures.
• Cultural relativism is the idea that cultures can only be understood from within that culture (can be overcome with the Emic approach which involves relating to and investigating cultural phenomena from the perspective of the culture itself)
• Pro: Research which addresses cultural norms or acknowledges the role of culture in behaviour can help to challenge ethnocentrism 
• Con: The categories 'individualistic' and 'collectivist' may be too broad which in turn presents a generalised, homogenous view of culture, ignoring finer detail and nuances (eg population of the US). Some cross-cultural research is beset with problems: self reporting or operationaliasing the variables