conforming to social roles - Zimbardo Flashcards
What was the aim of Zimbardo’s prison experiment
Zimbardo wanted to know why and if people would conform to their social roles
What was the procedure of Zimbardo’s experiment
- Occurred in a mock prison in the psychology department in Stanford university
- 21 male students were tested as ‘emotionally stable’ were randomly allocated groups (prisoners or guards)
- Both groups were encouraged to conform to their roles through de-individualisation through the use of uniforms. Prisoners = lose smocks and bald caps, And identified by numbers only . Guards = sophisticated uniform, mirror shades etc
- They were given instructions of behaviour such as if prisoners wanted to leave they had to apply for parole. And guards were reminded they had complete control over the prisoners
What was the results of Zimbardo’s experiment
- Guards took up their roles enthusiastically by harassing prisoners by head counting frequently etc. Highlighting social roles.
- After 2 days the prisoners rebelled but the guards shut it down by using ‘divide and rule’ tactics and turning the prisoners against each other
- Prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious. One was released after 36 hours due to signs of psychological disturbance. 2 more was released on day 4 .
- Many prisoners forgot it was an experiment
- Behaviour from the guards became increasingly brutal. The study ended after 6 days instead of 14
What was the conclusion of Zimbardo’s experiment
Social roles appear to have a strong influence on individuals behaviours. The guards becoming brutal and the prisoners becoming submissive due to their roles.
These roles were easily taken on by participants
How would you evaluate conforming to social roles
- Lack of realism
- Abu Ghraib
- Ethics
How would you evaluate conforming to social rules
(Lack of realism)
One limitation of the Stanford prison experiment is it did not have the realism of a true prison. Psychologists believed participants were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role. They thought participants performances were based on stereotypes since one of the guards based his character on a brutal character from a film (cool hand Luke). Suggesting the findings of the SPE tell us little about social roles
However, McDermont argues the participants did behave as if it was a real prison. 90% of the prisoners conversations were about prison life and how they couldn’t leave until their sentence was up. Prisoner ‘416’ later explained how he believed the prison was real but run by psychologists rather than the government. Suggesting the SPE did replicate social roles
How would you evaluate conforming to social roles
(Abu Ghraib)
- Zimbardo argues that the conformity to social roles effect can be used to explain Abu Ghraib. Which is a military prison in Iraq known for the torcher and abuse of Iraq prisoners by US soldiers in 2003 - 2004
- As was the case in the SPE, Zimbardo believed the guards who committed abuses were victims of situational factors making abuse more likely. These factors such as lack of training, unrelating boredom and no accountability to higher authority were present in both.
- Zimbardo concludes these factors combined with the opportunity to misuse power the guards had led to prisoner abuse in both situations.
How would you evaluate conforming to social roles
(Ethics)
Zimbardo’s study was limited by the main ethical issues which was broken. The ethical issue deception was broken as participants were deceived as they were unaware of the timing and nature of their arrests due to a last-minute approval from the police. Also many prisoners were unaware if they had the right to withdraw as many believed they were in a real prison. Which also breaks the ethical issue protection from harm as some prisoners suffered from psychological distress sue to the situation of being abused in a prison.
These ethical issues caused the SPE to become world known and the study was seen as less valid due to the ethical issues breakages
