Psychology paper 3

Psychology paper 3

1. Issues and Debates

   • Gender and Culture
     • There are three main types of gender bias:
       • Alpha bias - this occurs when the differences between men and women are exaggerated. Therefore, stereotypically male and female characteristics may be emphasised.
       • Beta bias -this occurs when the differences between men and women are minimised. This often happens when findings obtained from men are applied to women without additional validation.
       • Androcentrism - taking male thinking/behaviour as normal, regarding female thinking/behaviour as deviant, inferiour, abnormal, ‘other’ when it is different.
         • Positive Consequences of Gender Bias
           • Alpha Bias: • Has led to some theorists (Gilligan) to assert the worth and valuation ‘feminine qualities’. • Has led to healthy criticism of cultural values that praise certain ‘male’ qualities such as aggression and individualism as desirable, adaptive and universal.
           • Beta Bias: • Makes people see men and women as the same, which has led to equal treatment in legal terms and equal access to, for example, education and employment.
           • Negative Consequences of Gender Bias
             • Alpha Bias: • Focus on differences between genders leads to the implication of similarity WITHIN genders, thus this ignores the many ways women differ from each other. • Can sustain prejudices and stereotypes.
             • Beta Bias: • Draws attention away from the differences in power between men and women. • Is considered as an egalitarian approach but it results in major misrepresentations of both genders.
             • Consequences of Gender Bias Kitzinger (1998) argue that questions about sex differences aren’t just scientific questions – they’re also political (women have same rights as men). So gender differences distorted to maintain the status quo of male power.
               • • Women kept out of male-dominant universities. • Women were oppressed. • Women stereotypes (Bowlby)
                 • Feminist argue that although gender differences are minimal or non-existent, they are used against women to maintain male power.
               • Feminist argue that although gender differences are minimal or non-existent, they are used against women to maintain male power.
                 • Judgements about an individual women’s ability are made on the basis of average differences between the sexes or biased sex-role stereotypes, and this also had the effect of lowering women’s self esteem; making them, rather than men, think they have to improve themselves (Tavris, 1993).

2. Relationships

3. schizophrenia