zimbardo - conforming to social roles

Question 1

what is a social role

Answer 1

the behaviours and individuals expected of individuals in a society

Question 2

who was used in Zimbardos experiment

Answer 2

24 male participants

Question 3

procedure of zimbardo

Answer 3

• set up a fake prison in Stanford university
• selected students who were emotionally stable
• students were randomly assigned to guards or prisoners
• prisoners were arrested in their homes to make it more real and strip searched blinded and issued a number
• social roles were divided > prisoners had strict routines to follow and the guards had to enforce these
• prisoners were only referred to by their numbers
• guards had their own uniform and were told they had complete control over prisoners

Question 4

findings of zimbardos study

Answer 4

• study stopped after 6 days - was meant to last 2 weeks
• prisoners rebelled against harsh treatment
• prisoners ripped their uniforms and swore at guards , guards constantly reminded them they were being monitored
• guards always showed their power
• prisoners became depressed
• guards identified more strongly with social role

Question 5

conclusions of zimbardos study

Answer 5

• revealed the power of a situation to influence people’s behaviour
• everyone conformed to their social roles

Question 6

what is a social role

Answer 6

the parts people play as members of various social groups

Question 7

ao3 for prison study

Answer 7

• high control over key variables > selection of pp’s, emotionally stable and roles were randomly assigned > high degree of internal validity
• lacked realism > often based off of charcters so didn’t resemble a real prison
• zimbardo exaggerated factors > only 1/3 were harsh