paper 3 - gender bias / culture bias < L1 / L2 >

explain the term gender bias

refers to the differential treatment or representation of males and females

Based on stereotypes that are not real

Why is gender bias an issue

• historically psychology has had a male orientated discipline the issue is many of its major theories and explanations reflect this

Explain the term “universality”

Conclusions drawn that can be applied to everyone anywhere regardless of

• gender

• Culture

• Time

What are the two different type of gender bias

Alpha bias - refers to theories that exaggerate the differences between male and females

Beta bias - refers to theories which ignore or minimise sex differences between male and females

these theories often assume that the findings from males can be applied equally to females

What’s a study that can be used as an example for alpha bias

Freud

• in the 19th century men were more powerful and regarded as superior to woman

• He viewed femininity as failed masculinity argued that this was because girls formed a weaker super ego than boys due to a lack of castration anxiety in the phallic stage

• Girls don’t have a penis they will suffer from penis envy

What’s a study that can be used as an example for beta bias

Taylor et al

• found that females adopt a ‘tend and befriend’ response In stressful situations

• Woman are more likely to protect their offspring ( tend ) and form alliances with other woman ( befriend )

• Rather than fight an adversary or flee

Explain the term androcentrism

• male centred

• When normal behaviour is judged according to a male standard

• Female behaviour is often judged as abnormal or deficient in comparison

Define what ‘ culture bias ‘ means

The act of interpreting and judging behaviour and psychological characteristic of one culture by holding them to standards of your own

Explain what alpha bias means and provide a brief example

Alpha bias - theories that assume there are real and enduring differences between cultural groups

( example )

• Distinction made between individualistic and collectivist cultures (USA / Japan)

• We would expect members of a individualistic culture to be less conformist —→ less oriented toward group norms

Explain what beta bias is and give an example

Beta bias - theories that minimise cultural differences assuming all people are the same —→ universalise theories and methods

(Example)

• intelligence test done on 1.75 million army recruits in WW1

• Items on the test were mainly ethnocentric ( assuming everyone knew the names of USA presidents)

• Non western participants did not perform as well as white Americans

Explain what ethnocentrism means

• judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture

Give an example of ethnocentrism in a study you have studied

Ainsworth strange situation

• Ainsworth used western standards to judge attachment

• In Japan infants were classed as insecurely attached they showed considerable distress when separated

• Led to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries - as they deviated from American culture

Explain what the term cultural relativism means

The principle of regarding

• the beliefs

• Values

And practises of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself

What is the difference between Etic and Emic approaches

Etic - looks at behaviour from outside a culture and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal

Emic - studies behaviour from inside a culture and identifies behaviour that are specific to that culture

What is an imposed etic

When a culture - specific idea ( emic ) is wrongly treated as universal ( etic ) and applied to another culture

This leads to cultural bias / ethnocentrism

Who proposed the etic / emic distinction in cross - cultural psychology and when?

Berry ( 1969 )