Conformity: Social Roles Flashcards
Social Roles: Zimbardo
Procedure
- Zimbardo set up a mock prision and selected 21 male students who were tested as “emotionally stable”.
- The students were randomly assigned to play the role of the prison guard or prisioner.
- They were encouraged to conform through the uniforms they wore and instructions about their behaviour.
Social Roles: Zimbardo
Uniforms
- Prisoners were given a loose smock to wear and a cap to cover their hair.
- They were identified with numbers, not names.
- Guards had their own uniform to reflect the status of their role (wooden club, handcuffs and mirror shades)/
- These uniforms created de-individuation and meant they were more likely to conform to percieved social roles.
Social Roles: Zimbardo
Instructions
- Prisoners were further encouraged to identify with their role by several procedures.
- For example, instead of being free to leave the study they had to “apply for parole”.
- Guards were encouraged to play their roles by reminding them they have complete control over the prisoners.
Social Roles: Zimbardo
Findings
- Guards immediately conformed to their role, treating prisoners harshly.
- The prisioners rebelled on day 2, shouting and swearing at the guards.
- Guards constantly harassed the prisoners and reminded them of how powerless they were in their roles.
- After the rebellion was put down the prisoners became increasingly depressed and anxious - showing signs of psychological disturbance.
- One went on a hungar strike and guards force-fed him and punshed him by putting him a small closet.
- Zimbardo ended the study after 6 days, instead of 14.
Social Roles: Zimbardo
Conclusions
- Social roles appear to have a strong influence on their behaviour.
- Guards became brutal and prisoners were submissive.
- Even volunteers who came in to perform specific roles such as “prison chaplain” found themselves behaving as if they were in a prison rather than psychological study.
Zimbardo: Evaluation
Controlled Research
Strength
- Zimbardo had good control of variables in SPE.
- He selected emotionally-stable individuals and randomly assigned the roles of guard and prisoner.
- This ruled out individual differences and meant different behaviours were due to their assigned roles.
This degree of control increased the internal validity of the study so conclusions can be confidently drawn about the influence of social roles on conformity.
Zimbardo: Evaluation
Lack of Realism
Limitation + Counterpoint
- SPE did not have the true realism of a prison.
- It was argued participants were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role.
- Participant’s performances were based on stereotypes of how they were expected to behave.
- This would explain why the prisoners rioted - it is something real prisoners do.
- This suggests the findings of SPE tell us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisons.
- However, participants did behave as if it was real to them - 90% of prisoners’ conversations were about prison life and 416 said he believed the prison was a real one.
This suggests SPE did replicate the social roles of prisoners and guards in a real prisons, giving a high degree of internal validity.
Zimbardo: Evaluation
Exaggerates the Power of Social Roles
Limitation
- Zimbardo exaggerated the influence of social roles on behaviour.
- Only one-third of the guards behaved in a brutal way, while the others either enforced the rules fairly or tried to actively help the prisoners (e.g. giving out cigarettes).
- Most guards were able to resist situational pressures to conform to a brutal role.
This suggests that Zimbardo overstated the view that participants were conforming to social roles and underestimated the role of dispositional factors.
