Conformity - identification to social roles (Zimbardo)

Question 1

Aim of Zimbardo (1973) prison experiment?

Answer 1

• Investigate the extent to which people would conform to the roles of guard & prisoner in a prison simulation

Question 2

Procedure of Zimbardo?

Answer 2

• Sample pool: Volunteer Stanford college students
• 24 Pt’s (9 guards/9 prisoners), 7 remaining on call
• Police car ‘arrested’ the students for ‘violation’ of penal codes, armed robbery & burglary
• Pt’s were spread-eagled against car, searched & handcuffed
• Taken to the converted ‘prison’ in the basement of Stanford psych dept
• When prisoners arrived they were deloused, stripped naked, given smocks, hair shaved & were referred only by their ‘number’ (dehumanisation)
• Guards wore aviators & the same guard uniform

Question 3

Results of Zimbardo?

Answer 3

• 10% of the time prisoners convo’s were about their life outside
• Guards rarely exchanged personal information either talking about ‘problem prisoners’ or did not talk at all
• 6x the prisoners were commanded to shout ‘Mr correctional officer prisoner 819 is a bad prisoner’ after he withdrew
• 1/3 of guards were recorded as hostile/arbitrary/sadistic

Question 4

Conclusion of Zimbardo?

Answer 4

• People in positions of power exploit their power because of their position
• Oppressed prisoners were emotionally distressed & behaved pathologically
• Good people can become bad

Question 5

AO3 Zimbardo study
Low Generalisability?

Answer 5

P - Generalisability of Zimbardo’s study could be considered low
E - High levels of conformity to social roles may be because of the time (1973) so the study could lack temporal validity
E - Pt’s were male, so it is hard to generalise to females due to unrepresentative sample, (Androcentric)
L - This implies we cannot generalise these results to all populations/genders as it’s unrepresentative

Question 6

AO3 Zimbardo study
High reliability?
Counterargument?

Answer 6

P - Zimbardo study has high reliability because the study involved standardised procedures
E - All Pt’s were arrested at their home by the ‘police’ before entering the ‘prison’, all prisoners given smocks with an assigned number
E - Suggests study is consistent of findings resulting in higher reliability
C/A - However replication studies e.g. BBC prison study, found guards & prisoners initially conformed to roles, but by the end of the study prisoners wanted equality in ‘prison’
L - Suggests although Zimbardo has reliability the methodology of Zimbardo could have altered the findings

Question 7

AO3 Zimbardo study
Practical applications?

Answer 7

P - Practical applications of Zimbardo, findings of the study can be used to explain importance of situation causing behaviour
E - Deindividuation of prisoners by using a number to address them vs their names, contributed to their lack of control in their role as a prisoner
E - Psychologists suggest real prison life is made harder due to the characters in prison, However Zimbardo’s study showed the situation has the potential to act aggressively in a prison-like environment
L - Shows Zimbardo study is useful in adding to the understanding of behaviours in prison & findings from conformity to social roles can be applied to both prisoners & guards in real prisons

Question 8

AO3 Zimbardo study
Breach of ethical guidelines?

Answer 8

P - Zimbardo study criticised for breaching ethical guidelines
E - Zimbardo failed to protect the Pt’s from physical & psychological harm
E - Some prisoners experienced rashes from the smocks & ankle weights & prisoner 819 had to emotionally withdraw
L - Suggests research lacks scientific rigour as it breached many ethical guidelines