Zimbardo et al. (1973) Stanford Prison Experiment

Question 1

Method

Answer 1

• Male students recruited to act as either guards or prisoners in a mock prison,
• Were randomly given the roles of prisoner or guard, their behaviour was observed,
• The prisoners were ‘arrested’ as they went about their typical day, taken to the ‘prison’ and given uniforms and numbers,
• Guards also wore uniforms and tinted sunglasses.

Question 2

Results

Answer 2

• Initially, Guards tried to assert their authority; prisoners resisted by sticking together,
• Prisoners became more passive and obedient over the course of the experiment, while the guards invented nastier punishments,
• The experiment was abandoned early because some prisoners became very distressed.

Question 3

Conclusion

Answer 3

• Guards and prisoners adopted to their social roles quickly,
• Zimbardo claims this shows that social role can influence our behaviour; seemingly well-balanced men could become unpleasant and aggressive in the role of guard.

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

• A controlled observation; good control of variables,
• Artificial environment; results can’t be generalised to real-life situations,
• Ethically problematic; caused deep distress to some participants,
• Problem of observer bias; Zimbardo ran the prison himself, and later admitted that he had become too personally involved in the situation,
• Zimbardo’s conclusion doesn’t explain why only some participants acted according to their assigned role.