Edexcel Psychology for A Level Year 2: Student Book

Chapter 1 Issues and debates Culture and gender Culture Cultural differences Issues of culture means that research must be planned to take cultural differences into account in order to avoid biases. For example, cultural groups do not all share the same views of mental health. As a consequence people may describe their symptoms differently and thus their answers have different meanings. Clinicians will differ too and, in the absence of a recognition of cultural differences, can make diagnostic errors (Schwartz and Blankenship 2014). The assumption of universality The idea of ‘universality’ suggests that the findings of a research study can be generalised to all people, regardless of culture. However, if cultural differences exist, the findings of studies from a narrow range of cultures may not be relevant to others. Consider the assumptions made in Milgram’s study about the universality of his findings based on a small section of the American population. Subsequent research showed that obedience was not the same in all cultures, for example obedience rates were lower in India (Gupta 1983, Y1 page 38). Psychological research often uses WEIRD samples (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) which restricts the generalisability of the findings (Henrich et al . 2010, Y1 page 219). Cultural biases – Etics and emics Cultural differences can lead to cultural biases. If one culture performs differently on a task, this may be (mis)used to make value judgements about which culture is ‘better’ or more ‘normal’. This is an example of the etic approach – which is typical of much psychological research, where a phenomenon is investigated from an external perspective. An ‘outsider’ studies people from a culture other than their own in an attempt to find similarities (cultural universals). An alternative is the emic approach , which investigates cultural uniqueness, ideally from an internal perspective. However, even if an outsider immerses themselves in the culture, there may be problems in terms of acceptance, language barriers and failure to understand customs. Two of the contemporary studies in the cognitive approach illustrate this contrast. Mark Steyvers and Pernille Hemmer (2012, Y1 page 80) used ‘natural environments’ to investigate memory in an ecologically valid way. However, these scenes would only be ‘natural’ for some of the world’s population as ‘kitchens’ or ‘urban scenes’ would depend heavily on culture. This illustrates an etic approach. In contrast, María Victoria Sebastián and Laura Hernández-Gil (2012, Y1 page 82) explored the digit spans of Spanish children, using an emic approach. Gender Assumptions about gender differences Gender differences could reflect underlying biological differences or could be due to learning. Deciding whether it is biology or learning has important implications for how society treats men and women. For example, people expect men to be ‘naturally’ more aggressive, or women to be ‘naturally’ predisposed to being better carers. Untested gender assumptions matter if men are then seen to be ‘unable’ to control their aggression or if women are guided away from professional pursuits in favour of caring for others. The assumption of universality If there are differences between the genders, then conclusions from samples of just one gender should not lead to conclusions about ‘people in general’. For example, Muzafer Sherif et al .’s (1954/1961, Y1 page 48) Robbers Cave study used only boys and Alan Baddeley’s (1966b, Y1 page 76) Experiment 1 used only males. If girls and women differ from males in terms of prejudice or memory, this would not be apparent from these studies, and also unacknowledged. Findings about gender differences Some gender differences have been explored and explained. For example, Albert Bandura et al .’s (1961, Y1 page 140) study on social learning demonstrated both the power of male models for both genders in modelling physical aggression and the superiority of same-gender models for acquiring verbal aggression. Clinical psychology has also identified a range of gender differences in the rates, onset and symptoms of certain disorders. For example, schizophrenia is more common, and onset is earlier, in men than women. The symptoms themselves differ too, with men experiencing relatively more negative symptoms compared to women and women relatively more positive ones. Gender biases – Alpha and beta Other research has not been so balanced. An alpha bias arises when research stresses or overestimates gender differences. For example, research on aggression has suggested that males are more aggressive than females because of their higher testosterone levels (e.g. Dolan et al . 2001). However, this is an exaggeration as it has been shown that females also produce testosterone and that higher levels also increase their aggressiveness (Dabbs and Hargrove 1997). A beta bias ignores or underestimates gender differences. Much psychological research has used samples that are largely male and has been predominantly conducted by male researchers. This ignores the possibility that there could be gender difference with the result that one gender may then appear deficient or abnormal. Applying your knowledge An example of a synoptic exam question linked to culture and gender: Psychological research has ignored the importance of culture and gender differences. To what extent do you agree with this statement? (20) The paragraphs below illustrate how you might answer this: Most research used to be based on WEIRD samples (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic) as well as having predominantly male participants and researchers. Such biased samples mean that the findings are unlikely to generalise to radically different people, such as those from collectivist cultures, who are known to differ in behaviours such as obedience and prejudice. If findings cannot be generalised, this limits the validity of the conclusions and the usefulness of the research. (75 words) However, there is also research which does take account of relevant individual differences. For example, James Dabbs originally found a correlation between testosterone levels and violence in male inmates. This isn’t surprising, but Dabbs and Hargrove (1997) went on to show that the same was true of female inmates, even though the absolute testosterone levels were lower. This shows that research can consider gender differences. (65 words) 22