Conformity to social roles - Zimbardo's research

Question 1

What are ‘social roles’?

Answer 1

• The ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role.

Question 2

What was the aim of the study?

Answer 2

Zimbardo (1971):
- To see if prison guards behaved brutally because of the situation or because of their sadistic personality (pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering or humiliation on others).

Question 3

Who were the participants?

Answer 3

• Advertised in the newspaper
• 75 applicants underwent diagnostic interviews and personality tests
• 24 men were deemed the most physically and mentally stable and were paid $15 per day.

Question 4

What was the procedure?

Answer 4

• Mock prison setting at Stanford University
• Participants were randomly assigned to the role of prisoner and prison guard
• The prisoner’s daily routine was regulated
• Guards wore uniforms and they had complete power over the prisoners (when they could go to the toilet)

Question 5

What were the findings?

Answer 5

• The behaviour of the guards threatened the well-being of prisoners
• The study was stopped on day 6/14
• The prisoners rebelled and one went on a hunger strike (guards attempted to force-feed them)
• The prison officers were brutal and appeared to enjoy the power

Question 6

What was the conclusion?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

(AO3) What is a strength of the study?

Answer 7

Control:

• Zimbardo and his colleagues had some control over variables
• The researcher’s selection of emotionally stable participants and assigned random roles ruled out the possibility of individual personality differences as an explanation of the findings.
• If the guards and prisoners behaved differently, but were given the roles by chance, then their behaviour must be due to the pressure of the situation.
• This increases the internal validity of the study, so we can be much more confident in concluding the influence of the situation.

Question 8

(AO3) What is a weakness of the study?
(1)

Answer 8

Lack of realism:

• Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) - argued that the participants were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to their roles. Their behaviour was based on their stereotypes of prisoners and guards, and one guard claimed he based his role on a brutal character from the film Cool Hand Luke.

Counter-argument:

• Zimbardo disagreed and showed evidence that the situation was very real to the participants. Qualitative data gathered during the procedure showed that 90% of the prisoners’ conversations were about prison life.
• ‘Prisoner 416’ expressed the view that the prison was a real one, but run by psychologists rather than the government. ( reveals the situation was real to the participants, giving the study a high degree of internal validity).

Question 9

(AO3) What is a weakness of the study?
(2)

Answer 9

Role of dispositional influences:

• 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 the guards behaved brutally, and another third were keen on applying the rules fairly. The rest actively tried to help and support the prisoners, sympathising with them - offering cigarettes and reinstating privileges - (Zimbardo 2007)
• This suggests that Zimbardo’s conclusion may be overstated. The differences in the guards’ behaviour indicate that they were able to exercise the right and wrong choices, despite the situational pressure to conform to a role.