3 - Conformity To Social Roles: Zimbardo's Research Flashcards
What is the name of Zimbardo’s research?
The Stanford Prison Experiment
When was Zimbardo’s research?
August 1971
Where was Zimbardo’s research?
Stanford Uni (basement of psych dep.)
What are ‘social roles’?
‘Parts’ people play in everyday life, as members of different social groups - each part has a behavioural expectation
What was the aim of Zimbardo’s research?
To investigate the extent to which our behaviour conforms to the expected social role in a situation
What was the sample?
24 male, middle class students (Interviewed + psychologically tested to ensure ‘emotional stability’)
What was the sample type?
Selected from a volunteer sample (replied to newspaper ad offering $15 per day for 2 weeks in experiment)
What was the experimental design?
Independent groups
How were individual differences in the sample limited?
- All psychologically tested
- Assigned to condition (guard or prisoner) using random allocation
Were the participants deceived?
No - informed about all aspects of experiment
What type of experiment was it?
Lab experiment
What is de-individuation?
Removing sense of personal identity (happened to both guards + prisoners)
What two things helped with de-individuation?
- Removing names
- Wearing uniforms
Describe properties of prisoners
- Arrested at home, blindfolded + brought to unknown location
- Stripped + deloused
- Given uniform: dress, bald cap
- Given number instead of name
- Given 16 rules to follow
Describe properties of guards
- Given uniform: khaki, wooden club, handcuffs, keys, mirror shades
- Given complete power over prisoners, apart from no physical violence
How many guards were together in the same shift?
3
How many prisoners + guards were there?
9 + 3 alternates (of each)
Describe the prison
- Basement of Stanford Uni psych dep.
- Cells: office rooms with prison doors, only containing 3 beds (no windows, no clocks)
- ‘The hole’: cupboard used as solitary confinement
Outline the events of the experiment, day by day
1:
- Roles given + experiment started
- Uneventful
2:
- Prisoners rebellion: ripped uniforms, swore at guards
- Guards shut down rebellion with fire extinguishers
- Prisoners became subdued, one becoming so depressed he went to Zimbardo (returned spreading panic, thought he couldn’t leave)
3:
- One prisoner went on a hunger strike + put in ‘hole’
- Guards harassment of prisoners continues + situation worsens
4:
- One prisoner had an individual rebellion
- Guards punished his rebellion by forcing group to isolate him
- Guards harassment of prisoners continues + situation worsens
5:
- Zimbardo’s wife visits prison + stressed the psychological harm prisoners were suffering from
6:
- Zimbardo ends experiment early
How long was the experiment supposed to last?
14 days
How long did the experiment last?
6 days
How many prisoners had to leave the experiment due to psychological harm?
3
What was the conclusion of the experiment?
Guards, prisoners (+ even researchers) all conformed to their social roles within the prison + underwent de-individuation
- Guards became increasingly sadistic, showing ‘pathology of power’
- Prisoners became increasingly depressed + passive
What is ‘pathology of power’?
Term used to describe the enjoyment the guards felt in being given power over the prisoners
What is an example of the guards wielding their power over the prisoners?
Conducting frequent head-counts at all hours of the night
Give 1 positive evaluation point for the Stanford Prison Experiment
Methodology controlled variables
- Psychologically tested individuals
- Assigned roles due to random allocation
- Increased internal validity, ensuring behaviour not affected by individual differences
Give 3 negative evaluation points for the Stanford Prison Experiment
Research support is lacking
- Reicher + Haslam (2006) replicated it for BBC
- Experiment randomly allocated 15 ppts, who participated for 8 days
- Findings did not support Zimbardo, as prisoners rose up against guards
Alternative explanation
- Tajfel (1981) proposed the social identity theory
- (Behaviour motivated by social identity + how much you identify with your social group)
- Can be used to explain BBC study (prisoners had a greater shared social identity) + Zimbardo study (guards had greater shared social identity)
Ethical issues
- Although argued it wouldn’t be long term, ppts not protected from harm
- Zimbardo wasn’t able to fulfill role of objectively protecting ppts, as he was acting as prison superintendent + researcher
What two roles was Zimbardo playing?
Prison superintendent + lead researcher
Who has argued that Zimbardo over exaggerated his results? (That conformity to social roles in the experiment wasn’t as high as he claimed)?
Fromm (1973) - 1/3 guards acted brutally - 1/3 guards enforced rules fairly - 1/3 guards supported prisoners Clearly not all guards conformed to social roles - other factors (like dispositional factors) have impact
