Week 8 - Evil and Tyranny Flashcards
What is the general theoretical bias in understanding evil? (x2)
As shown in studies by? (x3)
Conformity - we will fall into line with norms and actions of the group, even if group treats others badly
Asch
Milgram
Tajfel
What kind of events are not explained by explanations of malicious acts as resulting from dysfunctional personalities? (x2)
Mass violence and genocide, such as holocaust -
Can’t all be psychopaths
What did Moscovici propose regarding human capacity for evil? (x2)
That psychology is full of conformity bias -
If all we do is reproduce errors of the past, there could be no social change
What is the paradigmatic example of conformity bias? (x1)
Which involved? (x2)
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment
“Normal” students assigned to roles as Prisoners and Guards in a simulated prison.
Study brought to premature close after 6 days due to Guards’ brutality and fear for Prisoners’ well-being
What conclusions were reached following the Stanford Prison Experiment? (x2)
Guard aggression was a ‘natural’ consequence of being placed in the role
We are powerless to resist the normative requirements of roles
What is the Lucifer Effect? (x2)
Which Zimbardo and colleagues argue means that… (x1)
The classic model of conformity - Good people cannot help but conform to the toxic requirements of toxic environments Hierarchical systems (such as prisons) are, and can only be, places where prevailing power structures are (brutally) enforced
What is the implication of attributing behaviour to the Lucifer Effect? (x1)
Which hasbeen done in what situation? (x1)
By denying human agency, the conformity model can be invoked by any tyrant or tyrannical group in order to excuse their actions
Abu Ghraib
Why is the conformity model so unquestioned? (x2)
Because of the integration of the findings of the Stanford Prison Experiment into contemporary culture
Even those who’ve never heard of it, have a vague awareness of it
What evidence casts doubt on the ‘naturalness’ of Guard behaviour in the SPE? (x4)
While it was claimed they received no training, and that they behaved purely according to behavioural scripts,
Zimbardo gave clear leadership regarding expectations,
And fostered guard identification
Not just implicit demand characteristics, but explicit demand also
What is a major cause of suspicion regarding the robustness of the SPE? (x3)
None of the findings were published in peer reviewed journals
Only formally written up in 2006 Zimbardo book
So none of his assertions can be analysed empirically
Rather than uniform conformity to brutality by guards, what behaviours did they actually display? (x4)
Variations in choice whether to engage or disengage with brutality -
1/3 doing, 1/3 ‘going along’ 1/3 withdrawing -
Which is in line with other similar groups, such as death squads
And the most brutal interpreted the instructions with considerable creativity
How does social identity theory contrast to the conformity model of group behaviour? (x3)
Key message is that resistance to prevailing power and social change are both possible
But require subordinate groups to act in terms of a shared opposition identity
ie the more ‘groupy’ the lower status group, the more inclined to social competition
Why did Reicher and Haslam choose to conduct the BBC Prison study (2006)? (x3)
While experimental and field evidence supports SIT,
Saw the most stringent test as being in prison setting, where tyranny and abuse are widely seen as natural and inevitable -
If people can resist here, they can resist anywhere…
What was involved in the BBC Prison Study? (x2)
SPE paradigm - random assignment to prisoner and guard roles
So power and status asymmetrically distributed
How did the BBC Prison Experiment differ from the SPE? (x3)
Experimenters had no formal role in the prison, and provided no leadership
Factors were manipulated to test SIT (permeability and cognitive alternatives)
In order to test capacity for shared social identity to promote collective resistance and social change
How did the BBC Prison Experiment manipulate group boundaries and cognitive alternatives? (x3)
Day 1: promotion allowed - personal identity-based social mobility (prisoners told possible to be promoted to guards)
Day 3: one promoted, disallowal of further promotions - social identity-based social creativity
Day 5: intro of trade unionist (expected to spontaneously intro ideology of change) - social identity-based social change
What ethical protections were planned over 9 months leading up to the BBC Prison Experiment? (x5)
Making it possibly the most… (x1)
Three-phase applicant screening (340 down to 25)
24/7 security, medical and clinical psychologist monitoring
24/7 ethics monitors - 5 experts in related fields
Experimenters, ethics, psychs and Ps all involved in TV editing process
Post-study follow-up for Ps
Extensive and expensive ethical safety net of any social psych experiment
What measures were used in the BBC Prison Experiment? (x6)
Behavioural observation (800+ hrs)
Daily psychological tests of 60 key psychological states/processes:
*social (e.g., social identification, cognitive alternatives, authoritarianism, social dominance, resistance, self-efficacy, stereotyping, modern racism, …)
*clinical (e.g., stress, depression, paranoia, self-esteem, burnout, social support, helplessness, …)
*organizational (e.g., leadership, communication, morale, trust, respect, loyalty, citizenship, …)
Daily physiological measures
How did the prisoners behave during days 1-6 of the BBC Prison Experiment?
Before promotion (permeable): dislike inequality, act individually.
After promotion (impermeable): resist inequality, act collectively -
Increasing social identity increases collective efficacy and resistance —
To the extent that prisoners revolt and overthrow the system on Day 5
How did the guards behave during days 1-6 of the BBC Prison Experiment? (x5)
Leading to what conclusion? (x1)
Several are uncomfortable with their role and with inequality -
Means they can’t develop shared social identity.
Leads to:
Social problems (disagreement, self-inefficacy, withdrawal)
Organizational problems (communication, trust, planning)
Clinical problems (paranoia, stress, burnout)
You need some kind of system or incentive to get people to behave so brutally
What happened on days 7-8 of the BBC Prison Experiment? (x5)
Ps agree to set up Commune to take study forward (into new, unpredicted territory).
Initially collective ownership increases cohesiveness and productivity.
But no power to police the Commune makes it unworkable - structural crisis.
Power vacuum opens, and sense of powerlessness increases
Proposal for an alternative, more tyrannical, regime emerges.
What was important about the developments over days 7-8 of the BBC Prison Experiment? (x4)
Although presented as banal development, new regime was proposed by ‘New Guards’ who:
(a) believed in, and were highly identified with, the regime’s aims (due to history and experience), and
(b) were highly creative.
Despite being contrary to the Commune’s values, this authoritarian solution seduces by promising order.
How did the developments over days 7-8 of the BBC Prison Experiment reflect real world terrorism and despotism? (x2)
Not carried out by idiots who’ve been duped - genuine believers in positive change, fixing historical problems
Brings order in times of crisis
What did the BBC Prison Experiment find regarding support right-wing authoritarianism during days 7-8? (x2)
How does this relate to the rise of Nazism? (x2)
Prior to start of study, those who later became new guards were higher in authoritarianism, and new prisoners low
But by the time new guards want to take over, they represent all the prisoners views
There’s individual difference, but these change, and people get more accepting of fascists –
It’s not them that change, it’s the populace
