Il genere in psicologia sociale: questioni epistemologiche e metodologiche

In the field of gender psychology, the theoretically innovative approach proposed by feminist psychologists rejected biologist reductionism and essentialism and developed a critical analysis concerning the mainstream cognitive approach and the malestream. The article examines some of the problems that were posed. These problems concern, from an epistemological point of view, the realism/antirealism controversy and the linguistic turn and, from a methodological point of view, the comparison between quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The analysis highlights the relevance of some issues - concerning the researcher subjectivity, the role of the context, the influence of power in the relationship between the researcher and the participants - for psychosocial research.