Issues & debates

• Gender bias 


  The issue of gender bias

  Universality and bias

  Psychologists hold beliefs and values that have been influenced by social and historical context within which they live. This means bias in research process is inevitable
• Alpha bias

  Research that focuses on differences between men and women and tends to present a view that exaggerates these differences

  Differences are typically presented as fixed and inevitable sometimes these differences heighten the value of women

  An example is Frued’s psychosexual theory

  In the phallic stage both boys & girls develop the desire for their opposite-gender parent

  The girls identification with her mother is weaker because her superego is weaker therefore they are morally inferior to boys
• Beta bias

  Research that focuses in similarities between men and women and tends to present a view that ignores or minimises differences

  Fight or flight response assumed that both males and females respond to threatening situations with fight or flight

  Illustrates how research that minimises gender differences may result in a misrepresentation of women’s behaviours
• Androcentrism

  Male-centred, when normal behaviour is judged according to a male standard meaning female behaviour is often judged as abnormal
• Gender bias evaluation (limitation)

  Biological versus social explanations

  Gender differences are often presented as fixed and enduring when they are not

  Maccoby & Jacklin (1974) presented the findings of several gender studied which concluded that girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability

  They suggested these differences are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth

  This suggests that we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be better explained as social stereotypes
• Gender bias evaluation (strength)

  Counterpoint

  This doesn’t mean that psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in the brain

  Research by Madura et al (2014) suggests that the popular social stereotypes that women are better at multi tasking may have some biological truth to it

  A women’s brain may have better connections between the right and left hemisphere that in a man’s brain
• Gender bias evaluation (limitation)

  Gender bias promotes sexism in the research process

  Women remain underrepresented in university departments, especially in science

  Although psychology’s undergraduate intake is mainly women, lecturers in psychology departments are more likely to be men (Murphy et al 2014)

  This means research is more likely to be conducted by men and this may disadvantage women participants

  This means the institutional structures of psychology may produce findings that are bias
• Gender bias evaluation (limitation)

  Research challenging gender biases may not be published

  Formanowicz et al (2018) analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias published over 8 years

  They found that research on gender bias is funded less often and is published by less prestigious journals

  The consequence of this is that fewer scholars become aware of it and apply it within their own work

  This suggests that gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias
• Cultural bias

  Universality and bias

  Heinrich et al (2010) reviewed hundreds of studies in leading psychology journals and found that 68% of research participants can from the US and 96% from industrialised nations

  Arnett (2008) found that 80% of research participants were undergraduates studying psychology

  These findings suggests that what we know about human behaviour has a strong cultural bias
• Cultural bias

  Henrich at al coined the WEIRD to describe the group of people most likely to be studied: Westernised, Educated from Industrialised, Rich Democracies

  If the norm is set by WEIRD people then the behaviour of people from non-westernised, less educated and poor cultures is inevitably seen as abnormal, inferior or unusual
• Ethnocentrism

  Judging others cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture

  Is a belief in the superiority of own‘s cultural group

  This suggests that people from the US and Europe have presented an ethnocentric view of human behaviour

  Ainsworth & Bell’s strange situation is an example of this as it only reflects the norms and values of a western culture

  They conducted research in attachment type and found that babies have a secure attachment

  But this lead to misinterpretation of child rearing practices in other countries which deviate from the American norm
• Cultural relativism

  Ideas that norms and values as well as ethics and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific social cultural contexts

  Berry (1969) has drawn a distinction between ethic and epic approaches in the study of human behaviour

  An etic approach looks at behaviour from outside a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal

  An emic approach functions from inside a culture and identifies behaviours that is specific to that culture
• Cultural relativism

  Ainsworth & Bell’s research is an example of an imposed etic: they studied behaviour inside one culture then assumed their attachment type could be applied universally

  Berry argues that psychology has often been guilty of an imposed etic approach when they actually came about through emic research inside a single culture
• Cultural bias evaluation (limitation)

  Many of the most influential studies in psychology are culturally biased

  Culture bias is a feature of many classic studies of social influence

  For example both Ach’s & Milgram’s original studies were conducted exclusively with US participants

  Replications of these studies in different cultures produced different results

  Asch-type experiments in collectivist cultures found significantly higher rates for conformity than the original study (an individualist culture)

  This suggests our understanding of topics like social influence should only be applied to individualist cultures
• Cultural bias evaluation (strength)

  Counterpoint

  However in an age of increased media globalisation it is argued that the individualist-collectivist distinction no longer applies

  The traditional argument is that individualist countries value individuals & independence while collectivist cultures value society and the needs of the group

  However, Takano & Osaka (1999) found that 14 of 15 studies found no evidence of individualism or collectivism

  This suggests that cultural bias in research may be less of an issue in more recent research
• Cultural bias evaluation (strength)

  Cultural psychology is the study of how people shape and are shaped by their cultural experience according to Cohen (2017)

  This is n emerging field and incorporates work from researchers in other disciplines

  Cultural psychologists strive to avoid ethnocentric assumptions by taking an emic approach and conducting research from inside a culture

  This suggests that modern psychologists are mindful of the dangers of cultural bias and are taking steps to avoid it
• Cultural bias evaluation (limitation)

  Cultural bias in psychology has led to prejudice against groups of people

  Gould (1981) explained how the first intelligence tests led to eugenic social policies in the US

  Many of the items in the test were ethnocentric like assuming everyone know the names of the US presidents

  The results were that people from south-eastern Europe and African-Americans received the lowest scores

  The performances of these groups were used to inform racist discourse and ethnic minorities were deemed ‘mentally unfit’

  This shows how cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice & discrimination towards certain cultures & ethnic groups
• Free will and determinism debate

  Most approaches are determinist to an extent like the biological approach and the behaviourist approach

  The humanist approach embraces the concept of free will
• Free will

  Suggests that human beings are essentially self-determining and free to choose their own thoughts and actions

  A belief in free will doesn’t deny that there could be biological/environmental forces but implies that we reject these forces because we are in control of our thoughts/behaviour
• Determinism

  The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individuals will to do something
• Hard determinism

  Sometimes referred to as fatalism and suggests all human behaviour has a cause, and it should be possible to identify and describe these causes

  This position always assumes that everything we think and do is dictated by internal or external forces that we cannot control
• Soft determinism

  Philosopher James (1890) was the first to show soft determinism which became an important part of the cognitive approach

  James thought that although the job of scientists is to explain what determines behaviour it doesn’t take away form the freedom we have to make conscious choices
• Types of determinism

  Biological determinism: the belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we can’t control. The biological approach emphasises the role of biological determinism in behaviour

  Environmental determinism: the belief that behaviour is caused by feature if the environment that we can’t control. Skinner described free will as an ‘illusion’ and argued that all behaviour is the result of conditioning

  Psychic determinism: the belief that behaviour is cause by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts that we can’t control. Freud also believed that free will was an ‘illusion’ but he emphasised the influence of biological drives and instincts
• Free will & determinism evaluation (strength)

  A strength of free will is its practical value

  The common sense view is that we expertise free choice in our everyday lives on a daily basis

  Even if this is not the case thinking we do exercise free choice can improve our mental health

  A study by Robert’s et al (2000) looked at adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism and found that they had a significantly higher risk of developing depression

  This suggests that the fact we believe we have free will may have a positive impact on mind & behaviour
• Free will & determinism evaluation (limitation)

  A limitation of free will is that brain scan evidence supports determinism instead

  Libet et al (1983) instructed participants to choose a random moment to flick their wrist he measured activity in their brain

  Participants say when they felt the conscious will to move

  Libet found the unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move cam half a second before thr participant felt they had to move

  This may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are we aware of them
• Free will & determinism evaluation (strength)

  Counterpoint

  However Libets findings showing that the brain is involved in decision-making isn’t surprising & is just as we would be except

  Just because the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act doesn’t mean that there was no decision to act, just that it took time to reach the consciousness

  This suggests that evidence isn’t appropriate to challenge free will
• Free will & determinism evaluation (limitation)

  A limitation of determinism (and a strength for free will) is the position of the legal system on responsibility

  Th hard determinist stance is that individual choice is not the cause of behaviour

  This isn’t consistent with the way our legal system operates

  This suggest that determinist arguments do not work in the real world
• Nature-nurture debate

  Interactionist approach:

  A way to explain the development of behaviour in terms of a range of factors, including both biological and psychological ones

  Factors don't simply add together but combine in a way that can’t be predicted by each one separately

  Psychologists are more likely to ask what the relative contribution of each influence is

  Therefore the nature-nurture debate is about discussing how nature and nature interact
• Nature-nurture debate

  Diathesis-stress model:

  Suggests behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability which is only expressed when coupled with a biological or environmental trigger

  A person who inherits a genetics vulnerability for OCD may not develop the disorder

  But combined with a psychological trigger may result in the disorder appearing
• Nature-nurture debate

  Epigenetics

  Refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing the genes themselves

  A process that happens throughout life & is caused by interaction with the environment

  Aspects of our lifestyle or events we encounter leave ‘marks’ on our DNA which switch genes on & off

  This is why factors like smoking leave a life-long influence
• Nature—nurture debate

  Nature: refers of inherited influence or hereditary. Early nativists such as Descartes (1596-1650) argued that all human characteristics are innate. Psychological characteristics like intelligence of personality are determined by biological factors
• Nature-nurture debate

  Nurture: refers to the influence of experience and the experiment. Empiricists like Locke (1932-1704) argued that the mind is a blank slate at birth which is then shaped by the environment (behaviourist approach)

  Lerner (1986) identified different levels of the environment

  This includes prenatal factors like physical influences of psychological influences affect a foetus
• Nature-nurture debate

  Measuring nature & nurture: the degree to which two people are similar on a particular trait can be represented by a correlation coefficient and is called concordance
• Nature-nurture debate evaluation (strength)

  Adoption studies are useful because they separate the competing influences of nature and nurture

  If adopted children are found to be more similar to their adoptive parents this suggests environment is the bigger influence

  However if adopted children are similar to their biological parents then genetic factors are seen to be dominant

  A meta-analysis by Rhee & Waldmar (2002) found that genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression

  This shows how research can separate influences of nature and nurture
• Nature-nurture debate evaluation (limitation)

  Research suggests this approach may be misguided, that nature & nurture are not two entities that can be pulled apart

  Palmin (1994) says that people create their own ‘nurture’ by actively selecting environments appropriate with their ’nature’

  So a naturally aggressive child would feel more comfortable with children who show similar behaviours

  Their chosen companions further influence their environment which he refers to as niche-picking

  This suggests it doesn’t make sense to look at evidence of either nature or nurture
• Nature-nurture debate evaluation (strength)

  There is support for epigenetics

  An example of how environmental effects can span generations presumably through epigenetic effects comes from the events of WW2

  In 1944, the Nazis blocked the distribution of food to the Dutch people and 22,000 people died from starvation

  Susser & Lin (1992) report that women who were pregnant during the famine had low birth weight babies

  These babies were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia when they grew up

  This supports the view that life experiences of previous generations can leave epigenetic ‘marks’
• Nature-nurture debate evaluation (strength)

  Research suggests that OCD is a highly heritable mental disorder

  Nestadt et al (2010) put the heritability rate at .76

  This understanding can inform genetic counselling because it is important to understand that high heritability doesn’t mean it’s inevitable the individual will develop the disorder

  This hows that the debate is not just a theoretical one but it’s important to understand the interaction between nature & nurture
• Holism-reductionism debate

  Question of whether Holism or reductionism is the better approach to use in order to understand human behaviour

  Holistic approach is about studying the ‘whole’, when you start to break down a holistic approach it isnt really holistic anymore

  Therefore there is no continuum between holism and reductionism
• Holism

  Holistic approach looks at the system as a whole and sees any attempt to subdivide behaviour or experience into smaller units as inappropriate

  Humanistic psychology focuses on the individual’s experiences which isnt something that Ben be reduced to biological units

  Humanistic psychologists use qualitative methods to investigate to self rather than breaking down to concept into component behaviours
• Reductionism

  Seeks to analyse behaviour by breaking it down into its constituent parts

  Based on the scientific principle or parsimony: that all phenomena should be explained using the simplest principles

  Levels of explanation in psychology: some are more reductionist than others