Gender and Culture bias key words

Alpha bias

exaggerates the difference between males and females

Examples of alpha biases

Psychodynamic approach

Sexual selection (relationshios)

Beta bias

ignores, minimises the differences between men and women

Examples of beta bias

Diagnosis of schizophrenia

Kohlberg’s moral development (forensics)

Androcentrism

when a male-centered veiwpoint is adopted - if a male only sample is used, this behaviour is judged as normal, female behaviour can therefore be seen as abnormal or pathologised

Culture

a way of life for a group of people

Ethnocentrism

belief that your own cultural group is superior to other cultural groups

Examples of ethnocentrism

The strange situation

Diagnosis of schizophrenia

The chitling test of intelligence

example of a culturally biased test that tends to favour African Americans

Cultural relativism

norms, value, ethics and morals can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts

Examples of cultural relativism

Strange situation

Deviation from social norms

Conformity and obedience

Etic analysis

looks at behaviour from outside of a culture and attempts to describe those behaviours that are universal

Emic analysis

looks at behaviour from inside a culture and identifies features that are specific to that culture

What does Berry (1989) argue

that psychology takes an etic approach because it says that theories/research is universal when in fact those theories have come about through an emic approach with research in a single culture