Complete Issues and Debates revision notes for AQA Psychology A-Level, written by a straight A* student. Includes PEEL paragraphs for every topic and diagrams where needed. Well organised and in order.
Includes collated information from class, textbooks and online. Topics include: Gender and cult...
Issues and debates
Gender and culture in Psychology
Bias: Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way
considered to be unfair.
Gender bias
De nition: When one gender is usually misrepresented in terms of their behaviour.
Androcentrism: Theories which are centred on, or focused on males. Imposed onto
women, assuming that any behaviour deviating from the male norm is abnormal.
EXAMPLE
‣ Asch line study - used 123 male undergraduate students to study majority in uence
‣ A women’s need to self-sacri ce, reject opportunity for pleasure and play a martyr can
be diagnosed as a personality disorder as it is less likely to be seen in men
‣ PMS - can an excuse for a women’s emotions rather than her actual feelings
Gynocentric: Theories which are centred on, or focused on females. Imposed onto males,
assuming that any behaviour deviating from the female norm is abnormal.
EXAMPLE
‣ Moscovici minority in uence study - studied if internalisation could only happen if the
minority were consistent in their views with only female participants
‣ FST - stresses the importance of the relationship between a mother and daughter in
the development of AN rather than the role of a father or son
‣ MH treatment is often based on female responses to stress who are encouraged to
express emotions, making men feel inadequate in their way of dealing with emotions
Alpha bias: Theories that maximises/exaggerate the di erences between males and
females. Either undervalues or enhances members of either sex, but typically undervalues
women by misinterpreting them.
EXAMPLE
‣ Sexual selection - it is acceptable for men to go out and sleep with many women as it
is demonstrating quantity over quality, whereas it is not acceptable for women to do
the same thing as they have to be choosy
‣ Freud argued there are genuine psychological di erences between men and
women - history suggests women are inferiors as young girls su er from penis
envy and he views femininity as failed form of masculinity
Beta bias: Theories that ignore or minimise sex di erences and often assume
that the ndings from studies using males can apply equally to female.
EXAMPLE
‣ Fight or ight response - Seyle mainly tested on male animals with high
testosterone levels. Taylor then found women tend and befriend instead of
ght or ight because their oxytocin levels reduce the stress hormone cortisol
Re exivity: Recognition of how the researcher’s values may impact how they carried out
and interpret the work.
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, Issues and debates
Misrepresenting women
‣ Researcher - researchers in the past have predominantly been men
‣ Experimenter - may treat men and women di erently causing women to behave in an
unusual way
‣ Interpreting - men usually interpret the ndings which may be clouded by gender bias
PEEL paragraph points - Gender bias
Strengths Weaknesses
P: Knowledge of the existence of gender bias P: Gender bias in psychological research can
impacts the researcher by in uencing the have many negative implications.
development of re exivity. E: Gender-biased research may create
E: Modern researchers are beginning to misleading assumptions about female
recognise the e ect their own values and behaviour and fail to challenge negative
assumptions have in their work. Rather than stereotypes and validate discrimination.
seeing such bias as a problem that may E: It may provide a scienti c justi cation to
threaten objectivity, they embrace it as a critical deny women opportunities in the workplace or
aspect of the research process in general. in wider society, for reasons such as PMS.
E: Cambrian and Lambert (2008) studied lack L: Research has methodological issues which
of women in executive positions in may have damaging consequences, which can
accountancy rms include and noted how their a ect the lives and prospects of women.
gender-related experiences in uence their ELAB: Essentialism, the belief that gender
reading of events. di erences are xed in nature can be used for
L: Re exivity is an important development in political gain. In the 1930s ‘scienti c research’
psychology and may lead to greater awareness revealed how intellectual activity (e.g.attending
of the role of personal biases in research. university) would shrivel a woman’s ovaries
and harm her chances of reproducing.
P: Feminist psychologists propose ways for P: Female concerns may not be re ected in
woman to be studied to avoid gender bias. the research questions asked due to sexism in
E: Worrell and Remer put forward criteria such the research process.
as women should be studied in meaningful E: Male researchers are more likely to have
real-life contexts and genuinely participate in their work published and studies which do nd
research. evidence of gender di erences are more likely
E: There should also be greater emphasis on to appear in journal articles.
collaborative research methods that collect E: Lab experiments may disadvantage women
qualitative data as opposed to just numerical if they are placed in an inequitable relationship
data - triangluation. with a (usually male) researcher who can label
L: This highlights how having feminist them unreasonable, irrational and unable to
psychology can ensure that women are treated complete complex tasks.
fairly and not misrepresented in research. L: Psychology may be guilty of supporting a
CP: If the way that the genders are studied form of institutional sexism that creates bias in
becomes too di erent, this may lead to alpha theory and research.
bias so this must be kept in mind.
Cultural bias
Cultural bias: The tendency to judge people in terms of one's own cultural assumptions.
In psychology, cultural bias takes the same two forms as gender bias.
Universality: When a theory is described as universal, it means that it can apply to all
people, irrespective of gender and culture.
EXAMPLE
‣ Conformity (Asch) obedience (Milgram) - originally conducted on US participants but
replicated in other parts of the world.
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, Issues and debates
‣ Milgram’s study replicated by Kilham and Mann (1974) found 16% of participants
went to the top and Mantell (1971) found 85% for Germans
‣ Evolutionary theory
‣ Eating behaviour - eating preferences are similar across the globe
‣ Aggression is innate and linked to high levels of testosterone
Ethnocentrism: Seeing the world only from one’s own cultural perspective, and believing
that this one perspective is both normal and correct.
EXAMPLE
‣ Statistical infrequency as a de nition of abnormality - cultures di er in terms of what
they consider normal behaviour which may lead to some individuals being inaccurately
de ned as being abnormal
(Imposed) Etic: Where a technique or theory is developed in one culture and then
imposed on another.
EXAMPLE
‣ The Strange Situation (Ainsworth) - criticised of re ecting only the norms and values of
American culture which can lead to the misinterpreting of child-rearing practicing in
other cultures such as Germany (independant) and Japan (collectivist)
Emic: Where a technique or theory focuses on how activities and development can be
observed in a particular culture and the di erences between cultures.
Cultural relativism: Insists that behaviour can be properly understood only if the cultural
context is taken into consideration.
EXAMPLE
‣ Deviations from social norms as a de nition of abnormality - what may be considered
‘normal’ in one culture may be ‘abnormal’ in another so the de nition doesn’t
consistently produce an accurate de nition of abnormal behaviour
‣ Intelligence is seen as quick thinking in Western cultures but slow and careful thought
in Uganda which could lead to ethnocentrism
PEEL paragraph points - Cultural bias
Strengths Weaknesses
P: It is important to realise that although P: Cross-cultural research could lead to issues
cultural relativism is relevant, there are some with operationalised variables.
behaviours that are universal. E: Di erent cultures interpret variables
E: Secure attachment is the most common di erently, such as intelligence. In an indigenous
attachment globally. Papousek found tribe, intelligence may be operationalised as
caregiverse was used in American, Chinese how well they problem solve but school grades
and German culture. are used in the West to determine intelligence.
E: This shows the importance of E: This may lead to reduced validity as the
understanding a culture in its own context as variables are di erent meaning it is hard to
well as acknowledging some behaviour can compare ndings from cross-cultural research.
be universalised. L: It is important to account for cultural bias
L: Highlights how an etic and emic approach when comparing research from other cultures.
can both be used.
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