4.1.1 Zimbardo's research

Question 1

What was Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 1

Stanford Prison Experiment

Question 2

Year of Zimbardo’s study

Answer 2

1973

Question 3

Zimbardo’s method

Answer 3

• Zimbardo et al set up mock prison at Stanford University
• 24 emotionally stable men were randomly assigned to role of prisoner or guard
• Created a loss of personal identify with uniforms
• Could leave if they wanted to
• Guards took up roles enthusiastically so conformed to social roles
• Study ended after 6 days rather than 14 days - outsider saw how unethical experiment was

Question 4

Findings related to social roles

Answer 4

• Guards took up their roles with enthusiasm - treated prisoners harshly
• Prisoners rebelled + once this stopped, they became subdued, depressed + anxious

Question 5

Conclusions related to social roles

Answer 5

• Social roles appear to have a strong influence on individual’s behaviour, as the guards became brutal + the prisoners became submissive
• Roles were very easily taken on by all participants

Question 6

Zimbardo’s conclusion

Answer 6

• Social roles have a strong influence on individuals’ behaviour
• The guards became brutal and sadistic - around 1/3 of the guards
• The prisoners became submissive
• All the participants in the study, including volunteers and Zimbardo himself, behaved as if they were in a normal prison and not in a psychology experiment (In Zimbardo’s conclusion)

Question 7

Evaluation

Answer 7

• Zimbardo controlled key variables
• Selection of participants - emotionally-stable + randomly assigned to role
• Therefore, they could rule out individual personality differences as an explanation of their findings
• Control over variables increased INTERNAL VALIDITY

Question 8

Limitations - lack of realism

Answer 8

• One limitation is that it did not have a realism of a true prison
• ALI BANUAZIZI and SIAMK MOVAHEDI (1975) stated that the participants were just play-acting and not conforming to the role
• They based their performance on stereotypes of how they believed they should behave
• This might have explained why the prisoners’ rioted because they thought that it is what happened in jails
• The study tells us little about conformity in real prisons

Question 9

Limitation - lack of realism counterpoint

Answer 9

• MARK MCDERMOTT (2019) argues that the participants did behave as if they were in a real prison
• 90% of the prisoners’ conversations were about prison life
• Prisoner ‘416’ later explained that he believed that the prison was a real prison- run by psychologists and not the government
• This suggests that the SPE did replicate a real prison and the role within it

Question 10

Limitation - exaggerates the power roles

Answer 10

• FROMM (1973) claimed that Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour- Only 1/3 of the guards actually behaved in a brutal way
• 1/3 tried to apply the rule fairly
• 1/3 tried to help and support the prisoners e.g. by offering them cigarettes
• (did Zimbardo just look at certain guards who were brutal?)
• This suggests that Zimbardo overstated (exaggerated) his view that the SPE participants were conforming to social roles and minimised the influence of dispositional factors e.g. personality