6. Controversies and Debates

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About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about some conclusions and controversies within this field, focusing in particular on: (i) the potential for integrating idiographic and nomothetic approaches to result in a loss of some insight or detail; (ii) the entire concept of personality and attributions could be an ethnocentric and/or androcentric concept; (iii) how we should discuss and consider gender differences, if indeed they do exist; (iv) how robust culture differences are over time; (v) the role that psychology has to play in being both scientific and compassionate.

Course

In this course, Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya (University of Birmingham) explores context-based approaches in psychology. In the first lecture, we think about an unusual social interaction and the ways in which a psychological researcher might approach understanding it. In the second lecture, we think about idiographic and nomothetic approaches to investigation, and how these tie into personal and social factors. In the third lecture, we think about individual and social research methods, including the role of attributions and circumstances. Next, we think about attribution models, focusing on Jones and Davies’ theory and Kelly’s covariation model. In the fifth lecture, we think about biases, including gender bias (within which are alpha and beta biases) and culture biases. In the sixth and final lecture, we think about some conclusions and controversies within this field, including the importance of psychology pursuing both scientific methodologies and compassion.

Lecturer

Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya is a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham. Dr Bouguettaya’s research interests are in social psychology and how knowledge from that field can be applied to others, particularly health, including how we can apply social identity theory to societal problems, as well as investigating the different perspectives one might take on those issues. Some of Dr Bouguettaya’s recent publications include 'The relationship between gambling advertising and gambling attitudes, intentions and behaviours: a critical and meta-analytic review' (2020) and 'The Effect of a Food Addiction Explanation Model for Weight Control and Obesity on Weight Stigma' (2020).