issues and debates Flashcards
universality
the conclusions of research can be applied to everyone, everywhere
gender bias
research may produce a view that does not represent all genders - alpha and beta
alpha bias
a view that exaggerates the differences between men and women, usually devalues women
beta bias
a view that ignores or minimises the differences between men and women
androcentrism
gender bias is a result of androcentrism
most research has judged male behaviour to be the normal behaviour and women to be abnormal
evaluation of gender bias - social differences
studies that show differences between gender are often believed to be biological, when actually they could be due to social differences
evaluation of gender bias - sexism
institutions, such as universities are still dominated by men, which means women are seen as abnormal in comparison to men
evaluation of gender bias - publishing bias
research into gender bias is still infrequently published and is also less funded - suggests not taken seriously
ethnocentrism
judging other peoples’ cultures from the values of your own culture
our own cultural perspective is taken as a standard by which we measure other cultures, which can lead to prejudice and discrimination
particularly true of western societies imposing their own values on non-western societies
cultural relativism
behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates
researchers may use an emic or etic approach to understanding culture
emic constructs
specific to a given culture and vary from one culture to another, they look at behaviour from the inside of the cultural system
etic constructs
analysis of behaviour focuses on the universality of human behaviour
universal factors that hold across all cultures
looking at behaviour from outside of the culture
evaluation of culture bias - indigenous psychology
as more researchers become more aware of culture bias, there has been a move towards using more native researchers to conduct research and interpret results
evaluation of culture bias - asch
like many classic studies, replications of asch found that there were differences in conformity in individualist and collectivist cultures, demonstrating cultural bias in the original
evaluation of culture bias - stereotyping
cultural bias has led to prejudices against certain groups
for example, IQ tests were used to claim that african-americans were genetically inferior during WWI
free will - determinism debate
free will suggests we have a choice in determining our thoughts and actions and are not controlled by biological or external forces
determinism is the belief that behaviour is caused by internal or external forces that we cannot control
science believes a deterministic approach is needed in studies to be able to determine cause and effect and create general laws, so researchers can control other extraneous variables
hard determinism
an extreme position that implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal and external events beyond our control
soft determinism
behaviour does have causes but we also have the ability to make rational conscious choices
biological determinism
the belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
environmental determinism
the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
psychic determinism
the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control
