conformity to social roles: Zimbardo’s research Flashcards
what experiment did Zimbardo conduct?
The Stanford Prison experiment
what was the aim?
to answer the question ‘do prison guards behave brutally because they have sadistic personalities or is it the situation that created such a behaviour?’
what was the procedure?
•Zimbardo set up a mock prison and Stanford university
•they advertised for willing participants and selected those deemed as ‘emotionally stable’ after psychological testing.
•participants were randomly assigned the role of either a guard or a prisoner
• the prisoners were treated like real prisoners and arrested in their homes
•the social roles of the prisoners and the guards were strictly divided
•the prisoners had 16 rules they had to follow and were only referred to by a number
•the guards had uniform and equipment, and were told they had complete power over the prisoners
what were the findings?
•there was a slow start but then the guards behaviour became a threat to the prisoners psychological and physical health. the study was stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14
•after 2 days, the prisoners rebelled aggressively. the guards played the prisoners against eachother
•the guards frequently harassed the prisoners and do head- counts to assert authority
•after the rebellion was put down, the prisoners become depressed and subdued
•many were released over the first few days regarding concerns for their well-being
•the guards administered brutal and harsh punishments, with some of them appearing to enjoy the power
what were the conclusions?
•this revealed the power of the situation to influence people’s behaviour
•guards, prisoners and researchers all conformed to their roles
evaluation points
strength: control
limitation: lack of realism
limitation: role of dispositional influences
strength: control
•they had some control over variables, the most obvious example of this is the selection of the participants
•emotionally stable individuals were chosen and randomly assigned to the roles of either guards or prisoners
•if guards and prisoners behaved very differently, but we’re in those roles only by chance, then their behaviour much have been due to the pressures of the situation
•this control over the variables is a strength because it increases the internal validity of the study. so we can be much more confident in drawing conclusions about the influence of roles on behaviour
limitation: lack of realism
Banuazizi and Mohavedi argued the participants were merely play acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role.
•that their performances were based on stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave
•despite this, Zimbardo suggested that the situation was very real to the participants. Qualitative data gathered during the procedure showed that 90% of the prisoners conversations were actually about prison life. One said that it was a real prison run by psychologists
•this suggests that the situation was real to the participants which gives the study a high degree of internal validity
limitation: role of dispositional influences
•Fromm accused Zimbardo of exaggerating the power of the situation to influence behaviour, and minimising the role of personality factors (dispositional influences)
•for example, only a minority of the guards (about a third) behaved in a brutal manner. Another third were keen on applying the rules fairly.
•the rest actively tried to help and support the prisoners, sympathising with them
•this suggests that Zimbardo’s conclusion- that participants were conforming to social roles- may be over-stated. The differences in the guards behaviour indicated that they were able to exercise right and wrong choices, despite the situational pressures to conform to a role
limitation: ethical issues
•a major ethical issue arise become of Zimbardo’s dual roles in the study
•the prisoners may have experiences psychological harm as a result
•also when they were asked to be released they were still treated like actual prisoners
after how many days was the experiment stopped and how many days was it intended to go on for?
it was stopped after 6 days instead of the intended 14
what percentage of prisoners conversations were about prison life?
90%
