(3) 🧑🧑🧒🧒 conformity to social roles, Zimbardo Flashcards
when was this study taken place?
1973
what does the term ‘conformity to social roles’ mean?
imitate internal mental scripts’ that allow individuals to behave appropriately in different settings through identification.
what were the aims of this study?
understand prison brutality and dehumanisation reported in American media at the time.
what was the hypothesis of this?
• non directional
• sought to explore wether prison brutality arose from dispositional factors (nature of people within prisons) or situational influences (violence induced by the prison environment).
where was the mock prison created?
in the basement of Stanford university
how were the Ps recruited and chosen for their roles?
• newspaper ad paying $15 to join prison life
• out out 75 volunteers, 21 male students rated as most physically and mentally stable chosen
• random selection of 10 guards, 11 prisoners.
what procedures were taken to heighten realism for the prisoners?
• given realistic arrest in their homes by local police, then fingerprinted, stripped, and deloused
• issued uniform, prison number, nylon stocking caps (simulate shaved heads) and a chain around one ankle = attempt to dehumanise them.
• made to follow strict rules during the day
what procedures were taken to heighten realism for the guards?
• had complete power, held decision of showing prisoners to use the toilet.
• given a uniform, clubs, handcuffs and mirror sunglasses to avoid eye contact.
what events happened during the simulation?
• in two days the prisoners revolted against poor treatment by guards
• in six days experiment was cancelled due to fears for the prisoners mental health instead of the intended 14 days
what were the findings and conclusions Zimbardo’s study?
• everyone involved in the experiment conformed to their social roles within the prison
• emphasises situational power of the prison environment to change behaviour
✅ - internal validity
E: selected Ps were tested as being emotionally stable, and randomly assigned to their roles - control over variables like dispositional factors
E: ability to confidently draw conclusions about how people tend to conform to social roles due to situational factors.
❌ - lack of realism + 🦄
E: suggested Ps were play-acting to stereotypes and things seen in media, rather than genuinely conforming to a role. one guard stated he based role on “cool hand luke”, also explains why prisoners rioted - acting out perceived behaviour of real prisoners
E: demand characteristics, therefore Ps weren’t behaving naturally. findings tell us little about conformity to social roles in real prisons
🦄: Zimbardo argues situation was very real to Ps. recorded 90% of prisoners’ conversations were about prison life. ‘prisoner 416’ expressed he felt prison to be a real one run by psychologists rather than the government. realism to Ps, high internal validity.
❌ - lack of research support
E: in Reicher and Haslam’s (2006) replication of the experiment on BBC TV, prisoners, who actively engaged with their roles, eventually took control of the mock prison, contradicting Zimbardo’s findings.
E: conformity to social roles may not be automatic as originally implied by Zimbardo. however, through social identity theory explanation, conformity may be down to the shared social identity of a specific group.
❌ - ethical issues as Ps lacked right to withdraw and were exposed to psychical and psychological harm
E: Zimbardo’s role as the superintendent ment Ps well-being was sometimes overshadowed by desire to maintain integrity of the simulated environment. became over-involved with study, which lasted 6 days as another psychologist (his current wife) expressed concerns about the Ps behaviours
E: his dual role as lead researcher (aware of aims and hypothesis) and superintendent may have reduced the validity of his conclusions, as study was subject to researcher bias.
