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AQA Alevel Psychology Issues and Debates Notes
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Notes on Issues and Debates Topic of Psychology Alevel
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Issues and Debates NotesGender Bias
- The representation of men and women based on stereotypical ideas about what they are lie
rather than real differences.
- Universality: attempt to develop theories of behaviour that apply to all people, may include
real differences.
- Alpha bias: findings exaggerate differences between males and females. Presented as real
and investable, more likely to devalue females in comparison to males.
FREUD theory of psychosexual development: pessimistic view of women being inferior to
men, sees women as ‘failed masculinity’ due to the way they each experiences phallic stage
of development differently. Women experience penis envy as they cannot have same strong
identification with same sex parent, weaker sugar egos make women morally inferior to men.
Exaggerates differences between men and women’s morals, devalues women.
- Beta bias: findings ignore, minimise or underestimate differences between males and
females. Occurs when female P aren’t used within the study and assumed the research
findings apply equally to both sexes.
BIOPSYCHOLOGY explores fight or flight response to stress. Research evidence comes from
research on rats looking at changes in hormone levels when they are stressed, favoured
using male animals as their hormones are more stable than female animals. Theory of fight
or flight response assumed to be universal for both males and females despite not using a
female sample. TAYLOR ET AL found there are differences in this biological mechanism,
females produce a ‘tend and befriend’ response which evolved to protect young.
- Androcentrism: result of beta bias, if our understanding of what is ‘normal’ is result of all
male sample then behaviour that females do that deviate from that are seen as abnormal
and inferior, this devalues women and may see their behaviour as a mental disorder.
FEMENIST PSYCHOLOGY object the diagnostic category of pre-menstrual syndrome as it
stereotypes female experiences, PMS is social construct which medicalises females emotions
in terms of their hormones, whilst male anger is seen as a rational response to external
pressures.
- MORAL REASONING RESEARCH: Lawerence Kohlberg
Produced influential theory of moral development, suggesting moral decisions we make are
based on ethic of justice.
Based his theory on research with boys and men where he asked them to describe what
behaviour would be right in certain situations related to fairness. BETA BIAS assumed male
responses would apply to all people
Carol Gilligan, Pointed out that the dilemmas used were also biased, had male orientation
because they were concerned with justice rather than moral feelings, a moral of care.
When tested women, found that they were less morally developed than men, ALPHA BIAS,
now exaggerated the differences between men and women.
GILLIGAN’S THEORY showed that women favoured care orientation, showed men and
women were different but not biased because neither kind of moral reasoning was
considered better.
Culture Bias
- Universality: conclusions drawn can be applied to everyone regardless of their culture.
, - Culture bias: if the norm for a particular behaviour is judged from the perspective of a
certain culture, then any cultural differences in behaviour that deviate from this will be seen
as abnormal
- ASCH AND MILGRAMS social influence studies, used all American participants, when studies
replicated in different cultures the results demonstrated varying degrees of conformity and
obedience e.g SMITH AND BOND 1998 found that people in collectivist cultures show higher
levels of conformity compared with those who live in individualistic cultures.
- In collectivist cultures, people emphasize the loyalty to the group and being concerned with
others needs, group decision making is preferred.
- In individualistic cultures, people are more concerned with their own and their family’s self
interests and individual initiatives are valued.
- Ethnocentrism: belief in the superiority of one’s own cultural group, seen when behaviour
that don’t conform to the western ways are somehow underdeveloped or unsophisticated,
can lead to prejudice and discrimination towards others cultures.
- EMIC: from within, focus on the norm and values of the culture as they understand it
themselves, observer places themselves within the culture of the intended study.
- ETIC: from outside, an investigator from one culture group studies another culture group,
may misinterpret their behaviour. Conclusions assumed to be universal leads to imposed
ethics.
- MARY AINSWORTH strange situation study reflects only the norms and values of the
American culture, the ideas attachment was characterised by a moderate amount of distress
when left alone by their mum. Led to German mother’s being criticised as being cold and
rejecting rath than encouraging a sense of independence. Revealed an inappropriate
attachment type for non-US mothers.
- Cultural relativism: the acceptance that any behaviour must be viewed against the
background, values and beliefs of the culture the person is from. No culture is superior to
another, only different, because we’ve adapted to very different climates and environments
and developed varied beliefs there are very few universal behaviours.
- DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS definition of abnormality, in western societies hearing
voices or visual hallucinations is abnormal and would be labelled as symptoms of
schizophrenia, in other societies hearing voices is seen as a great gift to be welcomes and
embraced. Appreciates than an individual should be diagnosed with an appreciation from
the culture someone is from.
Evaluation
- Emic-Etic Distinction: the EMIC approach emphasises the uniqueness of all cultures, one way
of eliminating bias caused by taking a universalist or etic view. ETIC research ignores cultural
differences assuming that research carried out anywhere can be generalised to everywhere
else because all humans are the same. ETIC research is MORE likely to be biased, can still be
conducted if care is taken to use indigenous researchers in each cultural setting.
BUSS, US researcher studied mate preferences in 36 cultures and found male and female
preferences are universal with very few cultural differences, wrote questions that reflected
cultural values and used indigenous researchers. Culture bias can be avoided if a researcher
is more mindful of the cultural relativism of their research.
Researchers now travel around the world to hold conferences and meet other scientists from
other cultures, this should reduce ethnocentrism over time and lead to accurate data on the
real similarities and differences between cultures.
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