Key Idea: The same behaviour looks different from different viewpoints. No single viewpoint shows everything, so psychologists use more than one.
Three lenses
- Biological: the body
- Cognitive: the mind
- Sociocultural: the world around
Together
- One alone is reductionist
- Several together are holistic
- What is left out is an alternative explanation
Whose viewpoint
- Emic: from the inside
- Etic: from the outside
- The researcher as insider or outsider
Ways of knowing
- Theories and models
- Deductive or inductive
- Indigenous perspectives
The words to know
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Perspective | A viewpoint from which behaviour is explained |
| Reductionist | Explaining a behaviour at one level only |
| Holistic | Looking at the whole person, using several levels |
| Theory | An explanation that can be tested against evidence |
| Inductive approach | Starting from observations and building an explanation |
| Emic approach | Studying a culture from the inside, on its own terms |
| Etic approach | Studying cultures from the outside, with the same categories for all |
| Ethnocentrism | Judging another culture by the standards of your own |
| Insider | A researcher who belongs to the group being studied |
| Indigenous peoples | Communities native to a region, with a long connection to that land |
Whose viewpoint is this, what does it show, and what would another viewpoint add?
Exam-style question
Your class practical was a focus group. Six players from the school football team discussed why people skip training. The discussion was led by the team captain. The players said that training is badly timed and clashes with homework. Explain the concept of perspective in relation to the focus group in your class practical.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: Every explanation is given from a viewpoint. Name it, and say what another viewpoint would add.
Tap each card to check yourself.
Which perspective: "stress hormones keep her awake"? Biological.
Reductionist or holistic: explaining a behaviour at one level only? Reductionist.
Deductive or inductive: start from a theory and test it? Deductive.
Emic or etic: asking what a custom means to the people who practise it? Emic.
What does an insider researcher gain, and risk? Gains trust and understanding. Risks taking things for granted.
How do many Indigenous views of well-being differ from the Western one? They look at ties to family, community, land and ancestors, not only at the individual.
Exam tips
- Name the perspective before giving its explanation.
- Say what that perspective leaves out.
- Ask who collected the data, and from inside or outside the group.
- Argue for combining views, not for a winner.