gender & culture

• define universality

  theories and findings can be applied to everyone regardless of gender or culture
• what sample do studies tend to be based on?

  • white
  • western
  • males
• define gender bias

  theories or research doesn't accurately represent experience or behaviour of one gender
• define bias

  pre-existing belief influences theories and data interpretation
• what can bias be influenced by?

  • personal experience
  • cultural values
  • education
  • political beliefs
  • gender
• what is androcentrism?

  male-centered perspective

  • female behaviour is judged as abnormal or deficient
  • leads to misunderstanding or pathologising female behaviour
• give an example of androcentrism

  zimbardo
• outline alpha bias

  exaggerates differences between men and women

  • presents them as fixed and inevitable
  • leads to stereotypes and discrimination
• example of alpha bias

  freud's theory of psychosexual development
• outline beta bias

  minimises gender differences

  • assumes male research can be applied to females equally
  • leads to misrepresentation and neglect of female-specific experiences
• example of beta bias

  fight or flight response - tend and befriend response
• 3 consequences of gender bias

  • Scientific Misconduct - flawed theories based on incomplete data
  • Social Consequences - reinforcement of stereotypes and inequality
  • Lack of Validity - theories won't accurately explain behaviour across genders
• define cultural bias

  tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret behaviour through lens of one's own culture
• what culture tends to be seen as the norm?

  • western
  • individualist
• outline ethnocentrism

  judging other cultures by standards of your own

  • belief in superiority of own culture
  • leads to misunderstanding of behaviour
• example of ethnocentrism

  ainsworth's strange situation
• outline cultural relativism

  behaviour should be understood within the context of the culture in which it occurs

  • universal laws don't exist
  • behaviour is culturally bound
• example of cultural relativism

  definitions of mental illness
• define emic approach

  looks at behaviour from within a culture

  • focuses on what's culturally specific
• define etic approach

  looks at behaviour from outside a culture

  • finds universal behaviours
• weakness of gender bias - androcentrism

  pathologize and devalue female behaviour

  • PMS is medicalised whilst male anger is seen as rational
  • stereotypes and discrimination against women
  • reduces validity and has real-world consequences
• weakness of gender bias - beta bias

  ignores real differences

  • Taylor et al - women use "tend and befriend" different response
  • leads to inaccurate and male-centered theories
  • reduces external validity and overlooks gender-specific behaviours
• strength of gender bias - feminist psychology

  development of feminist psychology

  • Worrell & Remer - methods valuing female experiences
  • promotes accurate and representative research
  • reduces bias and improve credibility of theories
• weakness of culture bias - ethnocentrism

  judge other cultures by standards of their own

  • Ainsworth's strange situation - germans labelled as "insecure-avoidant" as independence is valued
  • mislabel and misunderstand behaviours
  • reduces validity and promotes cultural stereotypes
• strength of culture bias - cultural relativism

  importance of understanding behaviour in context

  • hearing voices is schizophrenia in the west but spiritual elsewhere
  • applying norms globally can lead to inaccurate diagnoses or misunderstandings
  • improves accuracy and fairness
• strength of culture bias - psychology is more culturally aware

  improvements in research practices

  • cross-cultural psychology mixes emic and etic approaches
  • avoids cultural bias and improves validity/relevance
  • creates more inclusive and global theories