Issues and Debates Notes (AQA A-Level Psychology)
This document covers all content on Issues and Debates (AQA A-Level Psychology). The notes are very detailed but only include what is relevant to the course. There are abbreviations throughout that you should understand as a psychology student, b...
Androcentrism
● Acknowledgement the world is still dominated by men / this affects psychology
● Androcentrism can result in alpha or beta bias
● The aim is to achieve universality - theories / methods that apply to all people, but may
reflect real differences between men and women
● E.g Research into fight or flight, is usually conducted with male animals
● It’s been assumed only male samples are needed - what’s true for males is for F
● BUT Taylor challenged this - provided evidence females produce a tend / befriend response
at times of stress which is adaptive to ensure the survival of the offspring
● This beta bias meant that a real difference was ignored
Alpha bias
- Exaggerates differences between M and W / usually devalues one gender as a result
- Causes a misrepresentation of behaviour as researchers overestimate gender differences
- E.g Freud’s view of women as being incomplete men - Penis envy & Oedipal complex
- E.g Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity - exaggerated differences
- E.g Men often diagnosed more with SZ / only as women mask symptoms (Cotton)
Beta Bias
- Assumption that what is true for men is also true for women (VV)
- Potentially minimising / ignoring differences that may exist between M and W women
- Causes a a misrepresentation of behaviour as researchers minimise gender differences
- E.g Assuming findings from male studies (Asch/Zimbardo) can be applied to women
- E.g Findings in ForF research are based on males / animals, but due to womens
- E.g difference in hormones they’re more likely to ‘tend / befriend’ - differences ignored
Evaluation
Feminist psychology
● A way to counter androcentrism is take a feminist perspective
● Feminist psychology aims to redress imbalances in theory and research
● FP agrees there are biologically based sex differences but socially determined stereotypes
are far greater contributions to perceived differences
● A way to redress the balance is to show evidence women may be ‘inferior’ to provide them
with greater support
● Eagly claimed women might be less effective leaders than men
● BUT, this knowledge should be used to develop suitable training to ensure women become
more effective leaders
● Demonstrates how feminist psychology seeks to understand behaviour in terms of social
processes and thus find a way to greater equality
Implications of gender bias
● Gender biassed research creates misleading assumptions about female behaviour
● They allow discriminatory views / practices to take place
● E.g giving a scientific basis for ideas about the impact of PMS on women in work
● Results have a damaging effect on women's lives / makes them feel inferior
● May lead to depression as women feel they’re looked down on due to biological differences
● Suggests gender bias research has real life implications that affects the health and
wellbeing of women in society (as well as methodological problems)
, Sexism within the research process
● Women are less likely to be senior at research level
● Means they’re less involved in setting questions for research / less likely their work will be published
in journals etc…
● Lab experiments disadvantage women - male researchers have the power to label them irrational /
unable to perform complex tasks (Nicholson)
Bias in research methods
● Psychological theories are gender bias as methods used are biassed
● Rosenthal found male experimenter are more pleasant / friendly to F than M p’s
● The resulted in male p’s seeming to performer less well on the tasks
● Feminists argue lab experiments disadvantage women
● Findings created in controlled labs tell us very little about the experience of women
outside the lab setting
● E.g a meta analysis by Eagly & Johnson showed leadership styles for women were judged
more similar to men in a real life setting than in a lab setting
● Suggests there are issues with how data is collected that creates a false picture
Reflexivity
● Increasing awareness of the importance of the bias we bring to our own research - the
need to acknowledge and be aware of it (we can’t avoid it)
● E.g Claire Drambrin and Caroline Lambert in their study of the lack of women in executive
positions, reflect on their own gender related experience of such events
Reverse alpha bias
● Emphasise the difference between M / F, but view this difference in a positive light
● Strategy used to counter gender bias
● E.g Cornwell: Women better at learning as more attentive / flexible / organised
● Such research challenges the stereotypes that in any gender differences the male position
must be better - changes preconceptions
Avoiding beta bias
● Equal treatment for M / F (beta bias) has + / - consequences for women e.g equal pay
● Some believe arguing for equality in M / F draws attention away from women's needs
● In society where a group has power, neutral actions end up benefiting the powerful
● E.g equality mat/paternity leave undervalues biological demands on a woman (pregnancy,
birth, breastfeeding) - thus disadvantaging a woman
● Suggest we should avoid beta bias to ensure significant differences are accounted for
Essentialism
● Based on the idea gender differences are fixed in nature (determinist link)
● Outdated ‘biological facts’ were used to maintain inferior position of women
● E.g 1930s - going to uni would shrivel ovaries = less chance of children
Assumptions (e.g sexual selection) need to be examined
● Gender bias continues to go unchallenged
● Darwin’s ideas of sexual selection still used - are they inherently sexist / outdated?
● Key idea is women are more coy about sex as they need to be more choosy
● As they have more to invest / more to lose
● More recent research shows some are equally aggressive and competitive at times and it is
an adaptive strategy for women to have more than one partner
● Highlights the importance of challenging gender research to ensure research portrays a
valid picture of women
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