Conformity To Social Roles (Social Influence) Flashcards
Who was the researcher who investigated conformity to social roles?
Zimbardo
What was the sample size of the study?
21 male students were involved
On what basis were the participants selected?
On the basis that they were ‘emotionally stable and psychologically well balanced’
How were the participants allocated to their roles?
They were randomly assigned to either a guard or a prisoner
How did the researchers help to reinforce the social roles given to the participants?
The participants were provided with uniforms
Prisoners- given a loose smock, cap to cover hair, referred to as a number
Guards- given guard uniforms, wooden clubs and sunglasses - they were also encouraged to exercise power over the prisoners
What were the main findings of the research?
Guards had adopted their roles with enthusiasm - their behaviour had become a threat to the prisoners psychological and physical well being
Some had also appeared to enjoy the power/domination they had over the prisoners
Prisoners had rebelled within the first two days -then became subdued, depressed and anxious, e.g one went on hunger strike
Many prisoners were released, due to signs of psychological disturbance
What is the main conclusion of the research?
Social roles have a huge influence on people’s behaviour
Social roles are also easily adopted
What is deindividuation and how was it reinforced?
Participants seemed unable to focus on who they were, therefore fell into the role of being a prisoner
Reinforced by strip down at the beginning of the study + punishments carried out by the guards
Prisoners were also labelled as numbers - dehumanising
What can be used as real life application for conformity to social roles?
Abu Ghraib
What happened at Abu Ghraib prison?
US Army Military Police personnel committed serious human rights violations against Iraqi prisoners
The prisoners were physically and sexually abused, routinely humiliated and some were murdered.
How does Abu Ghraib link to conformity to social roles?
The police had conformed to their social role and had chosen to abuse their power over the prisoners
The prisoners conformed to their social role as they were forced to obey being routinely humiliated by the police and were unable to rebel against the social role that they were given, due to the deindividuation reinforced onto them
What is a strength of conformity to social roles?
There were some control over key variables, for example at the beginning of the study they ensured that the participants were ‘emotionally stable and psychologically well balanced’
Therefore, increasing internal validity
What are the limitations of conformity to social roles?
Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour, e.g found that only 1/3 guards had behaved brutally - others offered prisoners cigarettes
Participants performances were also based on their stereotypes, e.g one of the guards based his role on a brutal character from the film Cool Hand Luke
