Conformity To Social Roles - Zimbardo

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

To measure the extent that people conform to social roles.

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

• 24 men volunteered for a mock prison study. They were all assessed psychologically and deemed fit.
• they were randomly allocated prisoner or guard role (12 of each)
• prisoners were arrested from their homes, taken to mock prison, stripped, hosed and deloused (dehumanised), given a uniform and identification number to be used instead of their name (deindividualised).
• the guards were given a uniform, baton, handcuffs (ability to punish), but were told to do no harm. Reflective sunglasses to hide emotion.

Question 3

Results

Answer 3

• guards were enthusiastic and harsh
• prisoners rebelled/resisted on day 2 so guards became harsher, midnight head counts, toilet cleaning, humiliation rituals.
• guards did unpaid overtime (due to enjoyment)
• shut down after 6 days due to extreme psychological stress (was supposed to last 2 weeks)

Question 4

Conclusion

Answer 4

• social roles have a powerful influence on behaviour
• guards were harsh and brutal
• prisoners were passive and submissive

Question 5

+ good methodology

Answer 5

Controlled, participant, overt observation. However Zimbardo lost sight of what was happening in his study which led to bias.

Question 6

+/- ethical issues

Answer 6

-
• Protection from harm: no protection from harm (physical violence and psychological torment) not necessary for research, cost does not outweigh benefit
• No privacy, prisoners watched 24/7
• any informed consent was not valid as the study was the first of its kind so the outcome couldn’t be predicted.

+
• Ppts had the right to withdraw but had to ask for parole.
• Deception (arrested from homes) was necessary to get them into the role.

Question 7

• Gender/age/cultural bias

Answer 7

Androcentric study as the experiment was only done on male college students and a western bias as they were all from the USA (individualistic culture). Females are typically more socially aware so are supposedly more likely to conform. Caution must be taken when generalising to different cultures and the general population due to this bias.

Question 8

+ real world application

Answer 8

Abu Ghraib: explains (not excuses!) behaviour of officers to prisoners in war prisons (violence, torture, punishment).

Question 9

• Zimbardo exaggerated the results

Answer 9

This creates further researcher bias. Only 1/3 of the guards were brutal, 1/3 followed rules correctly, 1/3 were brutal.