Forensic psych flashcards external

Gender Bias

Differential treatment, representation, or evaluation of males and females in psychological research and practice based on gender stereotypes rather than genuine empirical differences

Universality

The assumption that a psychological theory, law, or diagnostic model applies equally to all human beings regardless of sex, gender, culture, or historical context

Alpha Bias

The tendency of theories or researchers to exaggerate or overestimate differences between men and women. These differences are typically presented as fixed, enduring, and biologically inevitable. Alpha bias frequently devalues women by presenting male behavior as the default norm and female behavior as deficient

Beta Bias

The tendency of theories or researchers to minimize, ignore, or underestimate differences between men and women. This typically occurs when studies use male-only samples and uncritically generalize the findings to females

Androcentrism

A direct consequence of beta bias. It represents a male-centered worldview where male thinking, behavior, and physiology are established as the "universal human norm". Female behavior that deviates from this male baseline is classified as abnormal, inferior, or pathological

Biological Determinism

The belief that human behavior, personality, intelligence, and social status are strictly dictated by fixed innate biology (genes, hormones, brain structure)

Role Congruity Theory & Double Bind

Formulated by Eagly and Karau (2002), this theory explains how societal alpha bias disadvantages female leaders. Because traditional leadership is stereotyped as masculine/agentic (dominant, assertive) and female identity is stereotyped as communal (nurturing, submissive), female leaders face a "double bind". An assertive female leader is criticized as "abrasive" or "unfeminine," whereas a male exhibiting the exact same behavior is viewed as "strong" and "decisive"

Reflexivity

A methodological practice where researchers continuously reflect on their own background, values, implicit gender biases, and social power, acknowledging how their presence influences data collection and analysis rather than claiming false "value-free objectivity"

Feminist Psychology

An approach pioneered by scholars like Naomi Weisstein (1968) and Judith Worrell that aims to remove androcentric bias from psychology. It insists that women must be studied in naturalistic contexts, treated as active co-researchers, and that female-coded traits must be valued without being labeled as defective

Culture Bias

The tendency to judge, interpret, or diagnose all people through the lens of one’s own cultural assumptions, values, and practices

Ethnocentrism

A form of culture bias where a researcher treats the values and behaviors of their own culture as 'normal' or superior, viewing differing cultural behaviors as deviant or deficient

Eurocentrism

A worldview centered on Western civilization that treats Western psychological concepts as universally superior

WEIRD Samples

An acronym standing for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic populations. WEIRD participants make up roughly 80–90% of psychological research samples despite representing only 12% of the global population.

Cultural Relativism

The principle that human behavior can only be properly understood when evaluated within its specific cultural context

Imposed Etic

Occurs when a researcher takes a construct or diagnostic tool specific to one culture (an emic) and incorrectly imposes it as a universal standard (etic) across other cultures

Individualist vs. Collectivist Cultures

Individualist cultures prioritize personal autonomy, independence, uniqueness, and self-sufficiency. Collectivist cultures prioritize group harmony, social duty, family, interdependency, and collective responsibility

Te Whare Tapa Whā

A holistic Māori health model developed by Sir Mason Durie featuring four equal pillars: Taha Tinana (physical health), Taha Wairua (spiritual health), Taha Whānau (family/social health), and Taha Hinengaro (mental/emotional health)

Pōrangi & Mate Māori

Indigenous Māori understandings of psychological distress. Pōrangi describes a state of spiritual disconnection and regression to Te Pō (darkness), which Western clinicians routinely misdiagnose as schizophrenia. Mate Māori refers to an illness of spiritual origin caused by a breach of tapu (sacred boundary), requiring traditional tohunga (healers) and karakia (prayer) to restore balance

Cannon (1914)

Developed the "Fight or Flight" stress response model by testing almost exclusively male animals and human males. Cannon explicitly excluded females to avoid "hormonal fluctuations" caused by female estrous/menstrual cycles. He then generalized Fight-or-Flight as a universal human stress response (Beta Bias / Androcentrism)

Shelley Taylor et al. (2000)

Challenged Cannon's universal claim by discovering that females frequently exhibit a "Tend-and-Befriend" stress response. Tending involves nurturing offspring to promote safety; Befriending involves building social support networks for mutual defense. Taylor proved this is biologically driven by oxytocin, which is amplified by estrogen in females but dampened by testosterone in males

Freud (19th Century) big overview

Declared "anatomy is destiny" and described femininity as a "failed form of masculinity" (Alpha Bias / Androcentrism). Freud claimed that during the phallic stage, girls discover they lack a penis and develop "penis envy". Because girls do not experience castration anxiety, Freud argued they do not identify with their mothers as strongly as boys identify with their fathers, resulting in a "weaker superego". He concluded women possess an inferior sense of morality and are driven by vanity to compensate for sexual inferiority

Karen Horney

Directly countered Freud by arguing women do not envy male anatomy; rather, they envy the power, legal rights, and social status held by men in a patriarchal society. Horney reversed the alpha bias by proposing men suffer from "womb envy"—an unconscious anxiety and overcompensation stemming from their inability to bear children

Bowlby (1951)

Claimed infants have an innate biological need for a single, primary attachment bond (monotropy) with the biological mother. He asserted that separation or deprivation during the first two years caused irreversible psychological damage, specifically "affectionless psychopathy". This exhibited Alpha Bias by exaggerating biological differences between maternal and paternal capabilities, treating fathers as non-essential providers. Politically, Bowlby’s theory was used after WWII to force women out of the workforce, creating intense maternal guilt and mother-shaming around daycare

Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

Proved infants form multiple primary attachments simultaneously, showing attachment is driven by sensitive responsiveness rather than physical feeding or biological motherhood

Rutter (1972)

Proved Bowlby failed to distinguish between deprivation (loss of an attachment) and privation (failure to ever form a bond), demonstrating that adopted infants can make full developmental recoveries

Kohlberg (1958)

Formulated his 6-stage theory of moral development based on a 12-year study of 72 Chicago boys aged 10–16 responding to the Heinz Dilemma. He presented this male-derived model as a universal law (Beta Bias). Kohlberg defined post-conventional morality around abstract individual rights and rules (Ethics of Justice). When women were evaluated, they routinely scored at Stage 3 ("Good Boy/Girl Interpersonal Conformity"), whereas men averaged Stage 4 ("Law and Order"). Kohlberg concluded women were morally inferior due to their domestic lives

Carol Gilligan (1982)

Exposed Kohlberg's model as androcentric. She proved men are socialized toward an Ethics of Justice (abstract rights and rules), whereas women are socialized toward an Ethics of Care (maintaining relationships, compassion, and avoiding harm). Gilligan demonstrated female morality is different, not deficient, and that Kohlberg’s scoring misclassified women simply because it pathologized relational reasoning as inferior

Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)

Used an all-male sample to make universal claims about human situational determinism (Beta Bias). Extrapolating this to women fails to address female-specific pathways into crime, such as trauma and domestic abuse

Eagly and Johnson (1990)

Meta-analysis showing that artificial laboratory experiments created alpha bias by exaggerating leadership differences based on gender stereotypes, whereas real-world organizational settings showed no differences between men and women in task vs. interpersonal orientation

Bass (1985) & Eagly et al. (2003) - big overview

Bass established the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire on male cohorts (Beta Bias). Eagly et al. proved transformational leadership is not gender-neutral; women score slightly higher on transformational traits, while punitive/transactional styles draw harsher social backlash when used by female leaders

Waldeyer / Walherdine (1990)

19th-century "shrivelled ovaries" theory claimed higher education diverted blood from ovaries to the brain, causing infertility—a pseudo-scientific alpha bias used to deny women university admission

Fromm-Reichmann (1948)

"Schizophrenogenic mother" theory blamed cold, domineering mothers for causing childhood schizophrenia

Romans et al. (2012)

Reviewed 47 studies and found no empirical link between the menstrual cycle and negative mood, disproving medicalized PMS alpha bias

Diagnostic Masking & Bias

Females mask neurodivergence (ADHD/Autism) or present with internalizing symptoms, leading to misdiagnosis. Garb (2021) and Cunningham et al. (2020) confirmed clinicians systematically over-diagnose depression and borderline personality disorder in women compared to men presenting with identical clinical profiles

Ainsworth (1970)

Developed the Strange Situation procedure and Caregiver Sensitivity Hypothesis in the US, defining secure attachment around infant separation anxiety and reunion behavior. This created an Imposed Etic by treating Western individualist child-rearing as a universal baseline

van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Meta-analysis of 32 studies across 8 countries. While secure attachment was most common globally, attachment types varied drastically by culture:

• West Germany: Showed the highest insecure-avoidant rate (35%) because German culture values early infant independence.

• Japan (27%) & Israeli Kibbutzim (29%): Showed high insecure-resistant rates because infants are rarely separated from caregivers, making the laboratory separation unusually distressing. Applying Ainsworth's norm wrongly misclassified healthy non-Western mothers as insensitive

Efe Hunter-Gatherers: In the Congo Basin, infants experience allocare (multiple caretaking), being cared for by non-mothers 60% of the time, proving infant security can be distributed collectives rather than restricted to one mother

Maslow (1943)

Constructed a hierarchy of needs that places individual self-actualization at the apex, reflecting Western individualist ethnocentrism

Sir Mason Durie (1984)

Created Te Whare Tapa Whā for Aotearoa NZ. It models health as a four-walled house: Taha Tinana (physical), Taha Wairua (spiritual), Taha Whānau (family/collective), and Taha Hinengaro (mental/emotional). Health requires balance across all four walls; if spiritual or family wellbeing is collapsed, the individual is unwell

DSM-5 Bias

Imposes a Western biomedical model that pathologizes spiritual experiences and ignores colonization trauma. Te Rau Hinengaro (NZ Mental Health Survey) shows Māori are 1.3 times more likely to experience mental distress, 2.8 times more likely to be diagnosed with conduct disorder, and represent nearly 50% of psychiatric inpatient admissions

Pōrangi

Experiences of hearing/seeing spirits or feeling disconnected are understood as regression to Te Pō, but are routinely misdiagnosed by Western psychiatrists as schizophrenia

Mate Māori

Spiritual illness resulting from breaking tapu, requiring tohunga and karakia rather than heavy antipsychotic medication

Indigenous Assessment Tools

Tihei-Wa Mauri Ora, Putangitangi, and Tātaihono assess wellbeing by measuring cultural identity, connection to land (tūrangawaewae), and spiritual balance. Muriwai et al. (2015) proved the Efficacy-Distress Buffering Model: high cultural self-efficacy directly buffers against psychological distress in Māori

Historical Betrayals

Systemic trauma caused by the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 (outlawing traditional healers), the 1961 Hunn Report (forcing rural-to-urban migration away from tribal lands), and the forced suppression of Te Reo Māori in schools

Fight-or-Flight Model(Cannon, 1914) - what kinda bias

Beta Bias / Androcentrism

Fight-or-Flight Model (Cannon, 1914) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Tested exclusively male animals and human males to avoid female hormonal cycles. Generalized male stress response as a universal human law

counterarguments to Cannon 1914 fight or flight model

Shelley Taylor et al. (2000): Discovered the oxytocin-driven Tend-and-Befriend response in females

Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud, 19th Century)

Alpha Bias / Androcentrism

Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud, 19th Century) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Claimed "anatomy is destiny," women have "penis envy" and a "weaker superego," framing femininity as failed masculinity

counterarguments to Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud, 19th Century)

Karen Horney: Proposed womb envy and proved women envy male social power, not male anatomy

Maternal Deprivation (Bowlby, 1951) - what kinda bias

Alpha Bias / Androcentrism

Maternal Deprivation (Bowlby, 1951) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Claimed monotropy with the biological mother is essential. Exaggerated biological differences in caretaking, shaming working mothers

counterarguments to Maternal Deprivation (Bowlby, 1951)

Schaffer & Emerson (1964): Proved multiple attachments. Rutter (1972): Separated deprivation from privation

Moral Development (Kohlberg, 1958) - what kinda bias

Beta Bias / Androcentrism

Moral Development (Kohlberg, 1958) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Developed stages using 72 Chicago boys. Defined highest morality as an "Ethics of Justice," misclassifying women at Stage 3

counterarguments to Moral Development (Kohlberg, 1958)

Carol Gilligan (1982): Proved women operate under an Ethics of Care; morality is different, not deficient

Psychosocial Theory (Erikson, 1958) - what kinda bias

Alpha Bias

Psychosocial Theory (Erikson, 1958) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Claimed men resolve Identity before Intimacy, whereas women suspend identity development until marriage

issues with Psychosocial Theory (Erikson, 1958)

Framed female identity as dependent on male attachment

Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1971) what kinda bias

Beta Bias / Androcentrism

Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1971) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Used an all-male sample to form universal laws of situational determinism and deindividuation

counterarguments to Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1971)

Fails to explain female pathways into crime (e.g., trauma, domestic victimization)

Leadership Meta-Analysis (Eagly & Johnson, 1990) what kinda bias

Alpha Bias

Leadership Meta-Analysis (Eagly & Johnson, 1990) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Artificial laboratory studies exaggerated gender differences in leadership styles based on stereotypes

counterarguments to Leadership Meta-Analysis (Eagly & Johnson, 1990)

Real-world organizational evaluations showed gender differences in task vs. interpersonal leadership virtually disappear

Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985) what kinda bias

Beta Bias / Androcentrism

Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Formulated the MLQ on male managers. Eagly et al. (2003) proved transformational leadership is not gender-neutral

counterarguments to Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985)

Assertive female leaders face backlash under transactional/punitive leadership styles due to Role Congruity double binds

Evolutionary Mating Theories (Trivers, 1972; Buss, 1989) what kinda bias

Alpha Bias

Evolutionary Mating Theories (Trivers, 1972; Buss, 1989) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Exaggerated evolved gender differences (males seek youth/attractiveness; females seek financial status)

counterarguments to Evolutionary Mating Theories (Trivers, 1972; Buss, 1989)

Overlooks human behavioral plasticity, cultural conditioning, and universal priorities placed on mutual kindness

Medicalization of PMS (Romans et al., 2012) what kinda bias

Alpha Bias

Medicalization of PMS (Romans et al., 2012) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Pathologized female reproductive biology, attributing negative moods to hormones

counterarguments to Medicalization of PMS (Romans et al., 2012)

Romans et al. (2012): Reviewed 47 studies and found no consistent link between the menstrual cycle and negative mood

Strange Situation (Ainsworth, 1970)

Culture Bias / Imposed Etic

Strange Situation (Ainsworth, 1970) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Defined secure attachment using Western individualist norms of separation anxiety

counterarguments to Strange Situation (Ainsworth, 1970)

van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988): Showed German avoidant and Japanese/Israeli resistant rates reflect cultural values, not poor parenting

Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943)

Culture Bias / Ethnocentrism

Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Placed individual self-actualization at the top of health, reflecting Western individualism

counterarguments to Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943)

Sir Mason Durie (1984): Created Te Whare Tapa Whā, balancing Tinana, Wairua, Whānau, and Hinengaro

Biomedical Diagnosis (DSM-5) (APA)

Culture Bias / Eurocentrism

Biomedical Diagnosis (DSM-5) (APA) Demonstration & Mechanisms of Bias

Ignores spiritual experiences and colonization trauma, leading to high Māori misdiagnosis rates

counterarguments to Biomedical Diagnosis (DSM-5) (APA)

Putangitangi, Tihei-Wa Mauri Ora, & Muriwai et al. (2015): Prove cultural efficacy buffers distress

feminist psychology

Pioneered by scholars such as Naomi Weisstein (1968) and expanded by Crawford, Marecek, and Judith Worrell, feminist psychology emerged as a critical movement designed to dismantle androcentric bias and scientific sexism from psychological research. Weisstein faulted traditional male researchers for formulating sweeping psychological laws about female nature based on personal cultural preconceptions rather than rigorous empirical verification

how gender bias can be addressed

Re-examining the "Facts" About Gender: Challenging established psychological claims that normalize male dominance or pathologize female behavior

Distinguishing Sex from Gender: Clearly separating biological sex (physiological differences) from socialized gender (constructed roles and expectations), preventing researchers from falsely attributing socially driven behavioral differences to fixed biological traits

Building a "Psychology FOR Women" vs. "a Psychology OF Women": A psychology of women treats women as passive objects of study under a male gaze. In contrast, a psychology for women actively focuses on women's real-world concerns (e.g., domestic violence, wage inequality, reproductive health, unpaid labor) with the explicit political goal of empowering women and achieving social equity

Judith Worrell’s methodological criteria that must be met to eliminate gender bias from research;

1. Women must be studied in naturalistic, real-life contexts rather than artificial laboratory environments

2. Women must participate as active co-researchers rather than passive objects of study

3. Diversity within groups of women (examining intersections of race, class, age, and sexual orientation) must be prioritized over simple binary male-female comparisons

4. Collaborative qualitative methodologies (e.g., discourse analysis, focus groups, thematic analysis) must be utilized to capture lived experiences

core requirement of feminist psychology

maintaining strict skepticism toward biological determinism—the assumption that human social roles, intellectual capabilities, and gender hierarchies are hardwired into innate biology. Biological determinism has routinely provided a pseudo-scientific "justification" for institutional sexism

The "Shrivelled Ovaries" Theory - feminist pov

19th-century medical academics (e.g., Waldeyer/Walherdine) claimed that higher education diverted blood flow from women's ovaries to their brains, causing permanent infertility. This alpha bias was weaponized to deny women university admission and keep them confined to domestic roles

Pathologizing Female Health & Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) - feminist pov

Clinical psychology historically medicalized natural female biology, reducing female distress to hormonal cycles ("Is it your hormones, love?") while ignoring environmental stressors like domestic violence, trauma, and unpaid labor. A systematic review of 47 studies by Romans et al. (2012) disproved this medicalized alpha bias, finding no consistent empirical link between the menstrual cycle and negative mood or classic PMS

Diagnostic Bias in the DSM-5 - feminist pov

Mainstream diagnostic manuals are heavily critiqued (e.g., Marecek & Gavey, 2013) for gender bias, specifically over-diagnosing internalizing conditions like major depression and borderline personality disorder in women. Garb (2021) and Cunningham et al. (2020) confirmed that clinical practitioners systematically apply race and gender biases when diagnosing mood disorders, misinterpreting female responses to trauma as personality defects. Furthermore, women routinely "mask" neurodivergent traits (e.g., Autism, ADHD), presenting with internalizing symptoms that lead to diagnostic oversight

The "Schizophrenogenic Mother" (Fromm-Reichmann, 1948)

Psychoanalytic theories demonstrated severe alpha bias by blaming cold, domineering mothers for causing childhood schizophrenia, treating psychosis as a "flight from maternal rejection" while completely ignoring genetic architecture and paternal influences

Methodological Reforms & APA Guidelines for Avoiding Sexism - 1

Standardized & Representative Sampling Procedures: Mandating gender-balanced sampling to ensure data represents all target demographics. When research is restricted to male samples, findings cannot be generalized universally to females

Methodological Reforms & APA Guidelines for Avoiding Sexism - 2

Disaggregated Data Analysis: Researchers must record participant gender and conduct separate disaggregated statistical analyses to determine whether observed variance is driven by gender differences or extraneous variables. This prevents researchers from assuming male and female participants experience an experiment identically

Methodological Reforms & APA Guidelines for Avoiding Sexism - 3

Eliminating "Lab Task Bias": Moving away from artificial, highly controlled laboratory experiments. Eagly and Johnson (1990) demonstrated in a meta-analysis that artificial laboratory settings exaggerate gender differences in leadership styles due to stereotypical task designs; when real-world organizational leaders were evaluated in naturalistic settings, behavioral differences between men and women in task vs. interpersonal orientation virtually disappeared

Methodological Reforms & APA Guidelines for Avoiding Sexism - 4

Mandatory Reflexivity: Reflexivity requires researchers to continuously examine how their own gender identity, background, values, and implicit biases impact the research process. Rather than claiming false, value-free "objectivity," reflexive researchers acknowledge how their presence and questions shape participant responses. For instance, Rosenthal (1966) discovered that male experimenters were significantly more pleasant, friendly, and encouraging toward female participants than male participants, proving that male and female subjects were psychologically not in the same experiment

examples of the institutional representation required to avoid sexism - Involvement Across the Research Pipeline

Women must be actively involved at every level—as primary investigators, peer reviewers, journal editors, and ethics board members. When research agendas are set exclusively by men, research questions focus predominantly on male concerns, while female-specific issues are marginalized or ignored

Balancing Genders in Clinical Practice

Achieving gender balance among mental health workers in psychiatric and correctional systems ensures that diagnostic evaluations and therapeutic interventions account for both gender perspectives

Dismantling the Academic "Glass Ceiling" (New Zealand Context)

In nz female psychology students form the vast majority of university enrollments. However, men continue to dominate senior academic roles—historically holding over 70% of professorships and department head positions. This institutional "glass ceiling" creates a self-perpetuating cycle where male academics control research funding allocations, peer review boards, and hiring committees

Dedicated Academic Programs

University courses specifically focused on gender, such as the Psychology of Women program at Massey University, play a critical role in training future practitioners to identify, critique, and eliminate gender bias in clinical and research practice