conformity to social roles: ZImbardo

Question 1

social roles

Answer 1

parts people play as members of various social groups

Question 2

Zimbardo (1973): aim

Answer 2

• how quickly people would conform to new roles
  Zimbardo (1973): procedure placed an advert for male volunteers to participate in a study on prison life for $15 per day
• 75 had to complete a questionnaire on family background, physical and mental helath. etc
• 24 ppts (most stable American men ) were selected which were assigned as a prison guard or prisoner
• 9 of them were arrested by local police

Question 3

Zimbardo (1973): findings

Answer 3

• prisoners rebelled at first
  guards became more & more aggressive
• prisoners then experienced extreme emotional depression , crying , rage & actute anxiety
• experiment was stopped after 6 days

Question 4

Zimbardo (1973): conclusions

Answer 4

• related to social roles & conclusions guards identified with their role and became increasingly aggressive and brutal
  social roles strongly influence behaviour

Question 5

AO3: control

Answer 5

• zimbardo had lots of control over variables
  increases internal validity as conclusions made were reliable
• e.g: good selection of stable ppts that were randomly assigned to roles
  allowed them to rule out individual personality differences
• questionnaire : social desirability bias / lied

Question 6

AO3: lack of realism

Answer 6

• some researchers argued that ppts were acting rather than conforming
  performances based on stereotypes
• guard said he bases his behaviour of a film character
  explains why prisoners rioted ( what they do in movies)
• not a real prison
• some researchers have said ppts were acting
• reduces the ecological validity
• some may say that the ppts were arrested so it is more life like

Question 7

AO3: alternate explanation

Answer 7

• Reicher & Haslam: criticised Zimbardo’s explanation as it didn’t account for non-brutal guards
• used social identity theory to argue that guards had to identify with their roles to act as they did
• Zimbardo: conforming came naturally

Question 8

AO3: exaggerates power of roles

Answer 8

• Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles
• only 1/3 of guards behaved brutally
• some tried to apply rules fairly & some tried to help & support prisoners
  they reinstated privileges and some even offered them cigarettes

Question 9

AO3: internal validity

Answer 9

• McDermort (2019): said ppts behaved as if they were in a real prison
• e.g : 90% of prisoners’ conversations were about ‘prison life’
• prisoner 416: believed it was a real prison that was run by psychologists
• high internal validity as the study showed the behaviour of guards and prisoners within a real prison

Question 10

AO3: ethics

Answer 10

• protection from harm: prisoners experienced depression, anxiety etc
• right to withdraw
  deception: told it was a study on prison life