Lesson 4.3.1.1

4.3.1.1 Gender and culture: universality and bias Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 3

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson 4.3.1.1, Gender and culture: universality and bias: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Psychology (7182), Unit 3: Issues and options in Psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. What does androcentrism mean in psychological research?

    • Research that uses only female researchers and female participants
    • Research and theory that treat the male experience as the norm, with findings then applied to women
    • Studies that exclude all children from the sample for ethical reasons
    • Theories that rely entirely on animal studies without any human evidence

  2. What is alpha bias?

    • Assuming that one culture's behaviour applies to every culture
    • Judging other cultures by the standards of one's own culture
    • Ignoring real differences between males and females
    • Exaggerating the differences between males and females, or between cultures

  3. What is beta bias?

    • Judging all cultures by a single male standard of behaviour
    • Describing behaviour only within its own cultural context
    • Minimising or ignoring real differences between males and females
    • Exaggerating differences between males and females

  4. What is ethnocentrism?

    • Studying only people who share the researcher's ethnic background
    • Assuming that a behaviour is found in every culture in the same form
    • Explaining behaviour by reference to the cultural context in which it occurs
    • Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one's own culture

  5. What is cultural relativism?

    • Measuring cultural differences only with standardised tests
    • Assuming that behaviour is the same in every society
    • Judging all behaviour by the same standard across all cultures
    • Understanding behaviour in terms of the cultural context in which it occurs

  6. What does universality mean in psychology?

    • Findings that apply only to people living in a single society
    • Measures that are taken from every participant in a large sample
    • Research that is conducted in every country in the world
    • Psychological findings or processes that apply across all cultures and groups

  7. Why might a test designed in one culture produce cultural bias when used in another?

    • The test may not measure the same concept in other cultures
    • The test is always too long for participants to complete
    • Cultural bias only affects the statistical analysis, not the scores
    • Tests cannot be translated into other languages

  8. A researcher reports a 2-point difference between men and women on a scale and then describes it as a huge gap. Which bias is shown?

    • Cultural relativism, because the findings are placed in context
    • Beta bias, because a real difference is minimised
    • Alpha bias, because a small difference is exaggerated
    • Ethnocentrism, because the researcher uses a foreign culture

  9. A researcher reports that men and women do not differ in empathy, even though the data show a clear difference, and dismisses the difference as unimportant. Which bias is shown?

    • Alpha bias
    • Beta bias
    • Universality
    • Ethnocentrism

  10. A memory theory developed only from studies of male participants is applied to women without testing. Which concept best describes this?

    • Androcentrism
    • Alpha bias
    • Universality
    • Cultural relativism

  11. A Western researcher judges a non-Western group's family structure as deviant, based only on Western norms. Which concept does this illustrate?

    • Beta bias
    • Universality
    • Ethnocentrism
    • Cultural relativism

  12. A study finds that people in several countries recognise the same facial expression of happiness. Which concept does this finding support?

    • Cultural relativism
    • Alpha bias
    • Androcentrism
    • Universality

  13. Which approach would best avoid ethnocentrism when studying conformity in a particular culture?

    • Using a single male-only sample to represent all cultures
    • Interpreting the behaviour using that culture's own norms and values
    • Comparing results only with the researcher's own culture
    • Applying the researcher's home-country norms to the findings

  14. A study of aggression uses only male participants but its conclusions are presented as being about human aggression. Which bias is most clearly shown?

    • Cultural relativism, because the findings are context-specific
    • Androcentrism, because male behaviour is treated as representing everyone
    • Universality, because the findings apply to every culture
    • Beta bias, because differences between the sexes are minimised

  15. A cross-cultural study finds that a memory task produces similar results in three countries. What does this best suggest?

    • Support for universality, though the number of cultures studied limits how far it can be generalised
    • That the findings are androcentric by definition
    • That cultural relativism has been disproved by the data
    • Proof that cultural bias is absent from all psychological research

  16. Evaluate the claim that psychology is free of gender bias because studies use both male and female participants.

    • Not necessarily, because bias can arise from theory, measures and interpretation as well as the sample
    • Yes, because including both sexes removes all bias from a study
    • No, because only female researchers can avoid gender bias in research
    • Yes, because alpha and beta bias only apply to animal studies

  17. A researcher argues that cultural relativism means all behaviour is equally valid in every setting. Which evaluation is most accurate?

    • The claim is accurate, because relativism rejects any role for context
    • The claim is accurate, because cultural relativism says all behaviour is universal
    • The claim is inaccurate, because relativism requires applying Western standards
    • The claim over-generalises, because relativism asks that behaviour be understood in context rather than that all practices are equally valid

  18. Why might cross-cultural research that aims for universality still be limited?

    • Universality requires all participants to be the same gender
    • Universal findings are always based on animal studies
    • Samples may come mainly from Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) societies
    • Cross-cultural research cannot use any comparison groups

  19. Which statement best distinguishes alpha bias from beta bias?

    • Both bias types refer only to the choice of statistical test
    • Alpha bias exaggerates differences between groups, while beta bias minimises or ignores real differences
    • Alpha bias ignores differences, while beta bias exaggerates them
    • Alpha bias is cultural in origin, while beta bias is biological in origin

  20. A psychologist claims a gender difference in behaviour is biological, using studies with only male participants. What is the main weakness of this claim?

    • The study has too many participants to be reliable
    • The sample is androcentric, so the conclusion about both sexes is not justified
    • The study cannot show any difference between groups
    • The study is ethnocentric because it used a Western sample

All AQA Psychology quizzes