Conformity to Social Roles Flashcards
What is meant by conformity to social roles?
Conforming (changing your behaviour) to suit that of the role you are given in a situation or society as a result of situational factors.
What is meant by Deindividuation?
The process that occurs when one loses one’s sense of individual identity so that moral and social constraints on behaviour are loosened
What is meant by Situational Factors?
Any Variable for the environment that may trigger or cause a change in behaviour
Who researched into conformity to social roles?
Zimbardo et al (1973)
What was Zimbardo et al (1973)’s aim?
To investigate how readily people would conform to new roles assigned to them
What was Zimbardo et al (1973)’s procedure?
24 male volunteers were paid $15 a day to take part in a 2 week simulation of prison life. They completed a battery of evaluations and were assigned to being either a prisoner or guard. ‘Prisoners’ were arrested at their homes and blindfolded before being taken to the prison at Stanford university
Once here they were stripped, sprayed with disinfectant, given an outfit and a prison number to learn. The rights they had included 3 meals, 3 toilet trips a day and 2 visits per week.
There were 16 rules the guards had to follow, and Zimbardo acted as warden to oversee them. They worked in shifts of 3 and were given a uniform including handcuffs and a wooden club. They were told they had power of the prisoners including saying when they could and couldn’t go to the toilet, but no violence was permitted.
What were Zimbardo et al (1973)’s results?
Guards harassed prisoners and conformed to their roles so strongly that the experiment stopped after 6 days
Prisoners rebelled after 2 days but guards quelled this using fire extinguishers
Some prisoners became more anxious causing mental breakdowns, 1 prisoner on the first day and 2 more on the 4th day
One prisoner went on hunger strike and guards attempted to force feed him, however when he refused they put him in a dark closet similar to solitary confinement
What was Zimbardo et al (1973)’s conclusion?
Situational factors of the prison played a significant role in creating the guards brutal behaviour as none of them had shown these tendencies before the experiment. People will conform to social roles they are expected to play
Limitations of Zimbardo’s research
Experiment fraught with ethical issues, lack of informed consent (unaware they’d be arrested at home) and they were also deceived and were clearly not protected from psychological harm with many becoming anxious and breaking down
P’s could have began to guess the aims of the study and begin displaying demand characteristics and began to act out their role, not acting naturally
Investigator effects - Zimbardo played a dual role in this study acting as a prison warden too, and his behaviour may have impacted findings. His role conflicted as a researcher he had to protect P’s and as a warden he had to reinforce the guards
Strengths of Zimbardo’s research
Clear application to Nazi Germany in concentration camps as soldiers conformed to their roles
Additionally there is also application to the Abu Ghraib as Zimbardo claims the atrocities carried out there are a result of situational factors
Zimbardo had high levels of control key variables. He recruited emotionally stable participants and they were randomly allocated to roles. As they were randomly allocated the behaviours were only down to the role itself and not their personalities
