conformity to social roles. zimbardo Flashcards
(11 cards)
What was the aim of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)?
To investigate conformity to social roles in a simulated prison environment.
Who were the participants in the SPE?
21 Emotionally stable students recruited through psychological testing.
How were participants assigned roles in the SPE?
Randomly allocated to either guard or prisoner roles.
What happened within the first 2 days of the SPE?
Prisoners rebelled—ripped uniforms, shouted and swore at guards. Guards retaliated using fire extinguishers.
What were 5 outcomes of the SPE?
Guards harassed prisoners with frequent headcounts.
Prisoners became anxious and depressed.
3 left early due to psychological disturbance.
1 went on hunger strike.
Study was stopped after 6 days.
AO3—Criticism from Banuazizi & Mohavedi (1975)?
Argued participants were play-acting, not truly conforming to social roles—based actions on stereotypes (e.g., from movies).
What does the acting criticism suggest about the SPE?
It lacks realism, so it tells us little about real conformity to social roles.
AO3—Criticism from Fromm (1973)?
Claimed Zimbardo exaggerated the power of roles—only 1/3 of guards were brutal, the rest were fair or supportive.
What does Fromm’s criticism suggest?
SPE may overstate conformity to roles and ignore other influences like personality.
AO3— strength?
Control over key variables-
Emotionally stable participants randomly allocated roles—behavior likely due to the situation (social role), not personality.
increases internal validity, more confidence to draw conclusions of the effect of social roles on conformity
What does high internal validity mean for the SPE?
More confidence in drawing conclusions about the effects of social roles on conformity.
