Conformity to social roles Flashcards
(16 cards)
What was the aim of Zimbardos Stanford prison experiment?
Investigate if sadistic personality of prison guards was due to dispositional factors or due to situational factors
What was the Stanford prison experiment?
Zimbardo et al
Mock prison in basement of Stanford university
21 male students
Paid 15$ a day
Tested as emotionally stable
Prisoners arrested at homes, blindfolded, handcuffed and strip searched.
Randomly assigned to play role of prison guard or prisoner
Encouraged to conform to social roles both through uniforms they wore and also instructions about their behaviour.
What were the uniforms for prisoners?
Loose smock to wear
Cap to cover hair
Identified by number
What were uniforms of guards?
Now uniform reflecting the status of their role
Wooden club
Handcuffs
Mirror shades
Why were the uniforms created?
Loss of personal identity
De-indiviuation
More likely to conform to the perceived social role
What were the instructions about behaviour?
Encouraged to identity with their role by several procedures.
Eg. Rather than leaving study early
Prisoners could apply for parole.
Guards were encouraged to play their role by being reminded that they had complete power over the prisoners.
What were the findings related to social roles?
Guards took up roles withe enthusiasm
Within 2 days prisoners rebelled
Ripped uniforms, shouted and swore at guards, who retaliated with fire extinguishers
How did Guards use divide and rule tactics?
Played prisoners off against each other.
Harassed prisoners constantly, to remind of powerlessness of their role.
Highlighted differences in social roles by creating opportunities to enforce the rules and administer punishments.
What happened after rebellion was put down?
Prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious.
One released showed symptoms of psychical disturbance.
Two released on 4th day
One prisoner on hunger strike
Guards tried to force feed him, punished him by putting him in hole, dark tiny closet.
What happened to guards the longer they were in the prison?
Identified more closely with their role
Behaviour became increasingly brutal and aggressive
Some appearing to enjoy power they had
When did Zimbardo end study?
After 6 days instead of intended 14
What were the findings of Zimbardos experiment?
Social roles appear to have strong influence of individuals behaviour
Guards became brutal and prisoners became submissive
Role very easily taken on by all participants
Volunteers who came in to perform specific functions found themselves behaving as if they were in prison rather than a psychological study.
What is an evaluation for Zimbardo’s study?
Lack of realism
Did not have realism of a true prison
Banuazizi and Movahedi
Participants were play acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role.
Performances based on stereotype’s of how roles were supposed to behave.
Eg. One guard said based brutal role from film called ‘cool hand Luke’
Explains why prisoners rioted, they thought that’s what real prisoners did
Suggests findings tell us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisons
What is an evaluation of Zimbardo’s study?
Control
He had control over key variables
Selection of participants
Emotional stable individuals were chosen and randomly assigned roles.
Researcher rules out individual personality differences as an explanations of the findings.
If behaved differently must be due to role itself.
Increased internal validity
More confident in drawing conclusions about influence of roles in conformity
What is an evaluation of Zimbardo’s study?
Counterpoint of lack of realism
McDermott
Participants did behave as if prison was real to them
90% of prisoners conversations were about prison life.
Prisoner 416 explained how he believe the prison was a real one but run by psychologists
Suggesting did replicate social roles of prisoners and guards in a real life prison
High degree of internal validity.
What is an evaluation of Zimbardo’s study?
Exaggerates power of roles
Only 1/4 of guards actually behaved in a brutal manner
1/3 tried to apply rules fairly
Rest actively tried to help and support the prisoners
Sympathised, offered cigarettes and reinstated privileges.
Most guards were able to resist situational pressures to conform to a brutal role
Suggesting Zimbaro’s overstated view that participants were conforming to social roles and minimised the influence of dispositional factors.
