Conformity to social roles- Zimbardo’s research

Question 1

What was the aim of Zimbardo’s research?

Answer 1

To find out why prison guards behave brutally:
- is it because they have sadistic personalities?
- was it that their social role created such behaviour?;

Question 2

Explain the Stanford prison experiment procedure

Answer 2

• set up a mock prison in the basement of the psych dept. Stanford University
• 21 male students- emotionally stable
• students randomly assigned role of either prisoner/guard
  prisoners and guards were encouraged to conform to social roles through their uniform and behaviour;

Question 3

What uniforms were ps instructed to wear?

Answer 3

prisoners: loose smock, cap, identified by a number
guards: had their own uniforms reflecting status of their role, wooden club, handcuffs, mirror shades;

Question 4

How were participants instructed to behave?

Answer 4

prisoners: rather than leaving the study early they could apply for ‘parole’
guards: were reminded that they had complete power over prisoners;

Question 5

What were Zimbardos findings related to the guards?

Answer 5

• took up their roles with enthusiasm
• guards used ‘divide and rule’ tactics (played guards against each other)
• created opportunities to enforce rules and administer punishments
• behaviour became increasingly brutal and aggressive;

Question 6

What were Zimbardo’s findings related to the prisoners?

Answer 6

• rebelled within 2 days (ripped uniforms, shouted, swore)
  After rebellion was put down:
• became subdued, depressed, anxious
• 1 released (symptoms of psychological disturbance)
• 2 more released on 4th day
• 1 went on hunger strike;

Question 7

When did Zimbardo end the study?

Answer 7

After 6 days instead of intended 14;

Question 8

What did Zimbardo conclude?

Answer 8

Social roles have a strong influence on individuals’ behaviour
guards became brutal
prisoners became submissive;

Question 9

Generalisability of Zimbardo’s study (-)

Answer 9

this study lacks generalisability
- study didn’t have the realism of a prison
- ps have been criticised of ‘play acting’
- ps performance was based on stereotypes so findings can’t be applied to whole population
therefore findings from this experiment tell us little about conformity to social roles in the rest of the population;

Question 10

Reliability of Zimbardo’s study (-)

Answer 10

this study has low reliability
- procedure was not standardised
- many variables were not controlled
- ps behaviour can’t be replicated to check for consistency
- doesn’t take into account factors such as personality;

Question 11

Application of Zimbardo’s study (+)

Answer 11

findings from this study can be used in the real world to make society a better place**
- conclude how much social roles influence individuals’ behaviour
- findings support the idea that stereotypes in real life situations are influential on a ps behaviour;

Question 12

Validity of Zimbardo’s study (+)

Answer 12

this study is valid
- Zimbardo and his colleagues had control over key variables
- emotionally stable individuals were chosen
- researchers ruled out individual personality differences
therefore this study has high internal validity;

Question 13

Is Zimbardo’s study ethical?

Answer 13

this study is unethical
- no fully informed consent
- Participants were not protected from psychological harm (they experienced incidents of humiliation and distres
therefore this study does not meet the standards established by numerous ethical codes including the BPS code of ethics;