Conformity to social roles: Zimbardo

Question 1

What was Zimbardo’s experiment on the conformity to social roles?

Answer 1

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE).

Question 2

When did Zimbardo conduct his research?

Answer 2

1971.

Question 3

Where did Zimbardo conduct his research?

Answer 3

In America, more specifically Stanford University Psychology department basement.

Question 4

What prompted Zimbardo to research this area?

Answer 4

There were many reports of brutality in prisons across America in the late 1960s, he wanted to find out is prison guards behave brutally because of their personality or because of the environment.

Question 5

Social Roles (Definition:)

Answer 5

The ‘parts’ people play as member of various social groups.

Question 6

How were the social roles of guard and prisoner advocated?

Answer 6

The students were assigned randomly to the roles of guards and prisoners.

Question 7

Where was the mock prison set up?

Answer 7

Zimbardo set up the mock prison in the basement of the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University.

Question 8

How did Zimbardo select the participants for his study?

Answer 8

He advertised for students willing to volunteer and selected those who were deemed ‘emotionally stable’ after extensive psychological testing.

Question 9

Zimbardo attempted to make the mock prison as realistic as possible. How was the realism of the study initially enforced ?

Answer 9

The ‘prisoners’ were arrested in their homes by the local police and where then delivered to the ‘prison’. They were blindfolded, strip-searched, deloused and issued a uniform with a number.

Question 10

What was the uniform for the guards?

Answer 10

They had guard uniforms, complete with a wooden club, handcuffs, keys and mirrored sunglasses.

Question 11

What was the function of the mirrored sunglasses?

Answer 11

The prisoners could not see the eyes of the guards and could only see themselves in the reflection which dehumanised the prisoners.

Question 12

What was hte uniform for the prisoners?

Answer 12

The prisoners only wore their numbered uniforms, in addition they were only referred to by their number, not their real names.

Question 13

How long into the study was it stopped?

Answer 13

It was stopped early, after only 6 days instead of the intended 14.

Question 14

Why was the experiment stopped?

Answer 14

The guards behaviour became a threat to the prisoners’ psychological and physical health.

Question 15

The guards took up their roles with enthusiasm, how did the prisoners act?

Answer 15

Within two days, the prisoners became rebellious and began to swear and shout at the guards, even ripping their uniforms.

Question 16

The guards utilised ‘divide-and-rule’ tactics, what are these tactics?

Answer 16

They played the prisoners off each other and used them to torment each other.

Question 17

One prisoner went on a a hunger strike in attempt to rebel against the authority, what was the response to this?

Answer 17

The guards attempted to force-feed him and then punished him by using the other prisoners to shun him.

Question 18

What conclusions were formed from his research?

Answer 18

The simulation revealed the power of the situation to influence people’s behaviour, the guards, prisoners and researchers all conformed to their roles within the prison.

Question 19

Dehumanisation (Definition:)

Answer 19

Degrading people by lessening of their human qualities.

Question 20

Deindividualisation (Definition:)

Answer 20

Individuals have lower sense of personal responsibility for their actions, often due to anonymity of a crowd situation.

Question 21

If prisoners misbehaved, prisoners were put in the whole, what is the hole?

Answer 21

A place of solitary confinement where prisoners were placed if they misbehaved.

Question 22

Where was the sample collected from?

Answer 22

The advertisement was made to the whole Stanford student body.

Question 23

What was Zimbardo’s role in the study?

Answer 23

He had a double role in the psychologist and the prison superintendant.

Question 24

What was significant about prisoner 8612?

Answer 24

He was released on the first day due to extreme distress signs.

Question 25

Why was Professor Christina Maslach so influential?

Answer 25

She looked objectively at the experiment as Zimbardo was too tied up in the experiment to look from an outside perspective.

Question 26

AO3: Variable control.

Answer 26

Zimbardo only selected the participants who were emotionally stable and were assigned randomly to their roles. This ruled out individual differences and increased the internal validity of the results.

Question 27

AO3: Lack of realism

Answer 27

Banuazizi and Modhavedi (1975) argued participants were were merely play-acting rather than conforming to the role. They said their performances were based on stereotypes of how they were supposed to behave, one participant basing their character on a guard in the film ‘Cool Hand Luke’. Decreasing the validity as they are showing demand characteristics.

Question 28

AO3: Disposition factors.

Answer 28

Fromm (1973) accused Zimbardo of exaggerating the power of the situation to influence behaviour, and minimising the role of dispositional influences. Only a third of guards behaved in a brutal manner, a third actually helped the prisoners offering them cigarettes and sympathising with them. Suggesting the power of the situation was not as great as Zimbardo claimed.

Question 29

AO3: Research support.

Answer 29

Reicher and Haslam (2006) conducted a partial replication of the SPE broadcast on the BBC. They found the prisoners actually took control unlike in Zimbardo’s experiment. This shows it lacks research support.

Question 30

AO3: Ethical Issues.

Answer 30

Zimbardo had a dual role in the study, he was the psychologist researcher and the prison superintendent. When a student wanted to leave he spoke to Zimbardo and he responded as a superintendent rather than psychologist as he was concerned with running the prison rather than responsibilities as a psychologist.

Question 31

What was Zimbardo interested in?

Answer 31

Putting good people in a bad place.

Question 32

Where was the prison set up?

Answer 32

In the basement of the psychology department at the University of Stanford.

Question 33

What was the hole?

Answer 33

A place of solitary confinement where the ‘prisoners’ were put in if they disobeyed the ‘guards’.

Question 34

Which famous character did David Eshelman model himself on?

Answer 34

Cool Hand Luke.

Question 35

How were the participants assigned their role as guard or prisoner?

Answer 35

Randomly.

Question 36

Why was Prof. Christina Maslach so influential?

Answer 36

Because she provided an objective view of the experiment as Zimbardo was too far invested in the experiment.