Zimbardo

Question 1

Study for conformity to social roles

Answer 1

Zimbardo - Standford prison experiment

Question 2

Date for Zimbardo

Answer 2

August 1973

Question 3

Zimbardo’s procedure

Answer 3

-Set up a mock prison, basement - Stanford university
-Advertised for student volunteers
-Selected 21 men who were deemed ‘emotionally stable’ after psychological testing.
-randomly assigned to roles of guards (10) or prisoners (11).
-‘prisoners’ were arrested in their homes by police, blindfolded, stripped & deloused at the ‘prison’.
-they had their personal identity removed (deindividuation) & were issued a number.
-guards wore khaki uniforms, reflective sunglasses & were issued with handcuffs, keys & truncheons, reflecting the status of their role.
-they were told they had complete power over the prisoners, whole daily routines were heavily regulated.
-the study was planned to run for 2 weeks, but only lasted 6 days
-The guards worked in 8 hour shifts

Question 4

Zimardo’s findings

Answer 4

Study supports situational hypothesis not dispositional (conformity is due to social role, not personality)
- Guards were enthusiastic in their roles

Question 5

Zimbardo’s conclusion

Answer 5

-Social roles have a strong effect on behaviour
-1/3 of the guards became sadistic
-Prisoners became submissive
-Participants (Including Zimbardo) behaved as though the prison was real, and not an experiment

Question 6

Zimbardo - evaluation positives

Answer 6

Control
- Random assignment to roles, increased internal validity

Question 7

Zimbardo - lucifer effect

Answer 7

Explanation for evil behaviour - suggests that instead of ‘a few rotten apples’ ruining the rest, the ‘barrel’ itself is rotten and effects the apples

Question 8

What happened throughout the experiment?

Answer 8

-Prisoners rebelled after 2 days - was stopped and prisoners became subdued
-One prisoner released on first day, 2 more on fourth day
-One went on hunger strike - punished and other prisoners turned on him

Question 9

Zimbardo - evaluation negatives

Answer 9

Lack of realism
- Participants were play-acting their roles to media derived stereotypes (Ali Banuaizi and Siamak Movahedi (1975)
However - Mark McDermott (2019) thought it was real as 90% of prisoner conversation was about prison life. Prisoner 416 later explained that he thought it was real

Exaggeration of power roles
-Fromme (1973) - Zimbardo exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour
- Only 1/3 of guards were brutal, other 1/3 tried to be helpful to prisoner, and rest remained passive

Ethical issues