Conformity to social roles - Zimbardo

Question 1

Why did Zimbardo complete his study ?

Answer 1

There had been many prison riots in America and he wanted to find out why prison guards behave brutally. Was it because of there personalities or their social role ?

Question 2

What was the Standford prison experiment procedure (SPE) ?

Answer 2

• mock prison in the basement of Stanford University
• Selected 21 men who were emotionally stable
• Students were assigned either prisoner or guard
• Encouraged to conform to their role through uniforms and instructions given

Question 3

What were the uniforms for the experiment ?

Answer 3

Prisoners =
- loose smock
- cap to cover hair
- identified by a number

Guards =
- own uniform
- wooden club
- handcuffs

These uniforms created a loss of identity

Question 4

What were the instructions about behaviour given to the participants before

Answer 4

• Rather than just leaving the study early they had to apply for parole
• Guards reminded that they had complete control over the prisoners

Question 5

What were the findings of the SPE ?

Answer 5

• Guards treated prisoners harshly
• prisoners rebelled within two days
• The guards harassed the prisoners and reminded them of their powerlessness
• After the rebellion, the prisoners became depressed
• 3 prisoners were released due to mental health disturbances
• The study ended 8 days early

Question 6

What were the conclusion of the SPE ?

Answer 6

• Social roles have a strong influence on individual behaviour
• Guard became brutal and prisoners became submissive
  -Even external people like the ‘prison chaplain’ found themselves conforming

Question 7

What are the limitations to the SPE ?

Answer 7

Lacked realism
- Some people believed that the participants were play-acting rather than conforming to a role.
- Prisoners may have rioted because that is what they thought prisoners did

Exaggerates the powers of roles
- he may have done this to influence the behaviour
- only 1/3 of the guards behaved brutally
- The rest were kind to prisoners
- This shows Zimbardo overlooked the conformity to social roles and minimised the influence of other factors

Question 8

What is a strength of the SPE ?

Answer 8

Large amounts of control
- Zimbardo had control over key variables
- he only chose emotionally stable participants
- randomly assigned roles
- means that individual personality differences were ruled out
- shows increased internal validity