issues and debates

• androcentrism - the majority of psychological research can be viewed as gender biased, towards the male gender. gender bias in research occurs when psychologists view the male psyche as the norm, so any behaviour which deviated from this is considered abnormal - male dominated, male point of view
• alpha biassed - exaggerates the difference between men and women and, as a consequences, theories that are alpha biassed devalue on gender in comparison to the other
• beta biassed - when peoples assume that what is true fro men is also true for women, thus mistakenly minimizing the differences between men and women. the consequence of this is that the needs of one gender (usually women) are ignored
• Alpha bias


  • examples
• Freud's theories


  Reflected the culture in which he lived. In the 19th century, men were more powerful and more educated, and regarded as superior to women. Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity - he exaggerated the differences between men and women
• Josselson: 'In this theory, women are seen as being inferior to men because they have penis envy and because they cannot undergo the same Oedipus conflicts men do. Because the superego develops from the Oedipus conflict, women therefore must be morally inferior because they have a weaker identification with their mothers'
• examples of beta bias - biological psychologists examining the fight or flight response typically conduct research using male animals. however recent research by Taylor has shown that females produce a tend and befriend response at times of stress which is adaptive because it ensures the survival of their offspring. the beta bias here meant that female behaviour went undiscovered and that the stress response was not fully understood - a real difference was ignored
• one way to reduce gender bias is to take a feminist approach. feminist psychology is a branch of psych which aims to redress the gender imbalance in theory and research. feminist psychology agrees that there are real biological sex differences between males and females. for example, early claimed that women may be less effective leaders than mine, but this knowledge should be used to develop suitable training programmes and therefore create a future with more women leaders. this knowledge allows researchers to develop suitable training programmes that can help redress this gender balance
• a further way to reduce gender bias is to emphasize the importance of women. this can be seen in feminist research which shows instances where women are better as learning because they are more attentive, flexible and organized. this emphasizes the value of women within the field of learning and focuses on the positive attributes of women. this matters because research can help to challenge gender stereotypes and change people's preconceptions
• Examples of gender bias remain unchallenged
• Darwin's theory of sexual selection portrays women as choosy and males as ones who compete to be chosen
• It pays, in terms of ultimate reproductive success for females to be more selective because the costs are high
• These views have recently been challenged

  DNA evidence suggests that women are equally as competitive and aggressive when the needs arise
• This highlights the importance of challenging gender research to ensure that research portrays a valid picture of both genders - particularly women
• alpha bias - occurs when a theory assumes there are real and enduring differences between cultural groups
• beta bias - occurs when a theory ignores or minimizes cultural differences. they do this by assuming that all people are the same and therefore it is reasonable to use the same theories/methods with all cultural groups
• alpha bias example


  • The distinction that is often made between individualistic and collectivistic cultures
  • We would expect members of individualistic cultures to be less conformists because they are less oriented towards group norms
• Takano and Osaka reviewed 15 studies that compared the US and Japan in terms of individualism/collectivism
• 14 out of 15 studies did not support the common view about difference in conformity
• The finding suggest that the individualism/collectivism dimension may not be a real distinction
• The distinction between 'individualist' and 'collectivist' culture is no longer a useful one
• beta bias example - intelligence testing - psychologists use IQ tests devised y western psychologists assume that their view of intelligence applies to all cultures equally. for example western societies see intelligence as something within the individual. in contrast, a collectivist culture such as Ugandan society sees intelligence as a functional relationship depending on shared knowledge between the individual and society. the result is that when such western IQ tests are used in non-western cultures, non-western people may appear less intelligent
• ethnocentrism - refers to the use of our own ethnic or cultural group as a basis for judgements about other groups. there is a tendency to view the beliefs, customs and behaviours of our own group as 'normal' and even superior, whereas those of other groups as 'strange' or deviant
• ethnocentrism is an example of an alpha bias because one's own culture is considered to be different and better and the consequence of this is that other cultures and their practices are devalued - however it can lead to beta bias if psychologists believe their world view is the only view
• emic approach - describes the study of cultural norms that are specific to one group of people or within one culture
• etic approach - assumes that behavior constructs studies in one culture have significance in all other cultures
• imposed etic - when we're imposing a theory that is not appropriate, in different context of other cultures
• cultural relativism - idea that all cultures are worthy of respect and that in studying another culture we need to try to understand the way that a particular culture sees the world
• cultural relativism can lead to an alpha bias where the assumption is real differences leads psychologists to overlook univerals
• cultural relativism can also lead to a beta bias. it is often discussed in the context of defining mental disorders. in the case of statistical infrequency definition of abnormality, behaviour that are statistically infrequent in one culture may be statistically more frequent in another
• A real danger of culturally biased research is that it helps to create or reinforce stereotypes
• The tests showed that European immigrants fell slightly below white Americans in terms of IQ, and African Americans were at the bottom of the scale with the lowest mental age
• The data from these tests

  Had a profound effect in the attitudes held by Americans towards certain groups of people - black and southwestern Europeans
• The consequence was enduring stereotypes concerning certain ethnic groups and their IQ
• researchers in psychology, like most people, travel much more now then they did 50 years ago. this means that they have an increased understanding of other cultures on a personal level but also at a professional level. academics hold international conferences where researchers from many different cultures regularly meet to discuss and exchange ideas. this means there is a much greater exchange of ideas, which should reduce ethnocentrism in psychology, enables an understanding of cultural relativism and mean that real differences are identified and valued.
• Countering ethnocentrism


  1. Encourage indigenous psychologies

  2. Development of different groups of theories in different countries
• Indigenous psychology


  • Afrocentrism
• Afrocentrism


  • Central proposition is that all black people have their roots in Africa
  • Psychological theories concerning such people must be African-centered and express African values
• Afrocentrism


  Disputes the view that European values are universally appropriate descriptions of human behaviour
• European values


  At worst devalue non-Europeans, at best are irrelevant to the life and culture of people of African descent