Conformity to social roles (Zimbardo) Flashcards
Definition
As our behaviour changes when we adopt a certain role, we can link this to the idea of identification as we are temporarily conforming when we are in a certain situation.
AIM
To see how ordinary men would behave if given the role of guards and prisoners.
METHOD
Students from Stanford university who were emotionally stable. They were randomly allocated the role of prisoners or guards in a fake prison in the basement. The prisoners were arrested at the crack of dawn, were stripped, deloused, blindfolded and were given a uniform and a number. Guards worked in rotated shifts three at a time.
FINDINGS
Prisoners became depressed, passive and submissive as a result of some of the guards humiliating them. Some also dropped out due to stress. The study ended after 6 days instead of the planned 2 weeks.
CONCLUSION
The results suggested that the extreme aggressive behaviour in prisons was not down to the personalities of the prisoners but rather down to the roles they were given in the situation they were placed.
Evaluation strength: some control over extraneous variables
Zimbardo selected emotionally stable participants which means any aggressive behaviour they displayed would have been more due to the situation in which they were placed rather than their actual personalities.
Evaluation strength: high degree of realism
Quantitative data gathered during the procedure showed that 90% of conversations were about prison life.
Evaluation weakness: Over-estimated results
Zimbardo may have over-estimated the role the situation played in determining the behaviour of the participants as only about a third of the guards behaved in a brutal manner.
Evaluation weakness: Replicated study
Reicher & Haslam (2006) found that prisoners ended up acting in an abusive way to the guards.
Evaluation weakness: Unethical
Zimbardo failed to protect his patients from harm and was reluctant to give some the right to withdraw.
