conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo

Question 1

what was Zimbardo’s aim ?

Answer 1

how hesitantly people would conform to social roles of guard/prisoner in a role playing exercise that was alike to prison.
He wanted to see if the behavior’s in prison were due to the prisoners or the environment and conditions of the prison.

Question 2

what was the research design of Zimbardo’s experiment ?

Answer 2

overt controlled, participant observation. participants were aware of being studied. it was a controlled environment as Zimbardo created a prison setting and controlled uniforms. participants as Zimbardo played a prison superintendent.

Question 3

what was the procedure of Zimbardo’s experiment ?

Answer 3

Stanford university basement was turned into a mock prison
he advertised for male students to be prisoner/guard for 2 weeks
the volunteers were psychologically and physically screened. 21 stable participants were then randomly assigned using a coin.
prisoners were arrested from homes, strip searched and given uniform and were given a number
guards were issued whistles, sunglasses, handcuffs
no physical violence was permitted
Zimbardo observed the behavior of the prisoners and guards

Question 4

what were the findings in Zimbardo’s experiment of conformity to social roles

Answer 4

prisoner rebellion prisoners shouted at guards and swore.
As prisoners became more submissive the guards became more assertive and aggressive.
some guards began to harass prisoners. They behaved brutally and sadistically.eg the guards making prisoners clean the toilet with their bare hands.
prisoners talked about prison issues a lot, they took the prison rules seriously, some sided with guards when other prisoners misbehaved.
five prisoners were released early due to crying, rage and acute anxiety.
experiment was ended after 6 days due to psychological harm.

Question 5

conclusions of Zimbardo’s experiment

Answer 5

social roles appear to have a strong influence on individuals behavior. people conform to their roles quickly even if it goes against their morals.
both guards and prisoners demonstrated social roles gained from media source.

Question 6

evaluate Zimbardo’s experiment

Answer 6

A major ethical issue arose because of Zimbardo’s dual role. When participants asked to leave Zimbardo was in his role as superintended . Him being more concerned with the prison rather than his participants.
lack of realism in the study. the guards may have been play acting rather than genuinely conforming to the role. their performance was based on stereotypes of how prisoners and guards should behaving the guards acting brutally and prisoners starting a riot. This reduces the validity of the study .