Conformity to social roles Flashcards
what does conformity to social roles mean
to conform to suit that of a role you are given in a situation or society as a result of situational factors
define deindividuation
the process that occurs when one loses their sense of identity so constraints on behaviour are loosened
define situational factors
any environmental variable that may trigger or cause a change in behaviour
who researched conformity to social roles
ZIMBARDO (1973)
what was the aim of zimbardos research
to investigate how readily people will conform to new roles assigned to them
what was the procedure of zimbardos observation into conformity of social roles
sample: 24 healthy male volunteers
observation: overt, participant, controlled
-p.t randomly selected to be either a prisoner or guard
-local police ‘arrested’ 9 prisoners from their homes w/o warning and brought back to stanford university and given a mock and number to remember which they would be called by
-prisoners allowed to have 3 meals a day, 3 supervised toilet trips a day and 2 visits a week
-zimbardo played a duel role of being the researcher and p.t as the prison warden
-guards were given a uniform including a wooden club, handcuffs, mirrored shades and keys. they were told they had complete power over prisoners, no physical aggression allowed
what did zimbardo find when investigating conformity of social roles
the guards harrased the prisoners so much and conformed to their role with such zeal that the experiment had to be discontinued after 6 days
some of the prisoners became depressed and anxious causing mental breakdowns in prisoners, one on the first day and two on the 4th day
what did zimbardo conclude from his study into conformity of social roles
the situational factors of the prison environment played a crucial role in creating the guards behaviour as known of them displayed prior to the experiment
people will readily conform to social roles they are expected to play, especially if they’re heavily stereotyped
strengths of zimbardos study into conformity of social roles
P: there is real-world application of zimbardo’s research
E: e.g nazi soldiers conformed to their roles and more recently in Abu Ghraib in Iraq
E: Zimbardo claims the atrocities carried out are a result of situational factors that lead to abuse of power
L: Zimbardo’s research therefore has clear ecological validity
weaknesses of zimbardos research into conformity of social roles
P: zimbardo played a duel role in the experiment
E: he acted as both the researcher and prison warden
E: this meant there was conflict between being the researcher and protecting the p.t and the prison warden encouraging the guards behaviour
L: this behaviour may have affected the way the experiment went, meaning the validity of it may have been affected by investigator effects
P: the experiment had ethical issues
E: for example there was a lack of informed consent, as p.t are unaware they would be arrested at home
E: additionally they were deceived and there was no protection from psychological harm as many became so anxious + depressed they had mental breakdowns
L: although Stanford University’s ethical guidelines were followed by zimbardo it is import to question if the ends justify the means.
