Conformity to social roles - Zimbardo SPS Flashcards
What did zimbardo do in 1973?
Conducted a study where he investigated the impact of social roles on ppt behaviour
Who wrote the SPS study in 1973, despite it being organised by zimbardo?
Haney (Haney et al. 1973)
What was the method to the Stanford prison study? (4 steps)
-24 of the more stable male students were selected from a large group of volunteers and were randomly assigned to be a guard or a prisoner.
-prisoners put into a prisoner uniform (smuck), given an id number and were made to wear a hair net
-guards were given guard uniforms, clubs, whistlers and reflective sunglasses
-uniforms designed to deinviduate the individuals, to make them feel as part of a group and so that they’d conform to the social roles they are playing.
What was the role of zimbardo in the Stanford prison study?
He was the superintendent and the roe of making decisions about prisoner punishments and advising the guards.
How long did the Stanford prison study last for and why?
Lasted just for 6 days, instead of the intended 2 weeks due to the damage it caused ppts.
Ppts who were guards created an environment of fear and abuse. Five of the prisoners were released early due to psychological harm they were experiencing
What were the three results of the Stanford prison study regarding the guards?
-The guards took up their roles enthusiastically and treated the prisoners very poorly
-The guards would play the prisoners off against each other (divide and conquer) whenever they rebelled and used harassment tactics to remind them of their power.
-They created opportunities to enforce the rules and exert power over prisoners.
What were the three results from the Stanford prison study regarding the prisoners?
-Prisoners rebelled within two days, ripped off their uniforms and shouted / swore at the guards
-one prisoner was released after the rebellion as he was showing psychological disturbance, two more released on day four
-one prisoner went on hunger strike and guards tried to force feed him and put him in ‘the hole’, a small dark broom closet.
What did zimbardo suggest about the results of the Stanford prison study? (4 things)
-The study showed that ppts do conform to social roles
-social roles play a huge part in the behaviour we show
-suggested that conformity to social roles is automatic
-as soon as your put on an outfit + adopt the role, you are acting in an automatic way.
What were the two strengths to the Stanford prison study?
-Zimbardo and colleagues had good control of the variables and were able to manipulate the events effectively which indicates good internal validity.
-prison environment was as realistic as it could be because volunteers, like a local priest who visited to be the prison chaplain, quickly found themselves behaving as they would be in a real prison.
What are the three weaknesses with the Stanford prison study?
Ethical issues caused by the psychological harm the prisoners experienced
Issues with the right to withdraw as zimbardo had prevented pts from leaving when they first asked to
Zimbardo got too involved in the study that he couldn’t stay objective
What did Haslam and Reicher (2012) suggest about the guards behaviour?
Stated that some of the guards became ‘good guy’ guards instead of ‘mean guy’ guards, and that there must be some form of choice and that conformity to social roles isn’t automatic.
What did Banuazizi and Movahedi (1975) criticise against the Stanford prison study regarding demand characteristics ?
— provide an example.
Suggested that the SPS was heavily influenced by demand characteristics and that the ppts were only playing their roles.
E.g a guard saw a guard within ‘Cool Hand Luke’ and replicated his personality. Other ppts probably saw this movie and rioted as they thought this is what real prisoners would do.
Suggests the SPS lacks validity
What did McDermott (2019) suggest about the reality of the prison study?
Provide an example of what one of the prisoners said.
Suggested that the ppts did act as if the study was real as 90% of the prisoner conversations were about prison life. They discussed not being able to leave until their sentences finished.
E.g prisoner 416 later explained that he thought it was a real prison being ran by psychologists and not the government.
Provide a real world example of the impact of social roles and how ppts can be affected wrongly.
Seen in the solders in Iraq treating prisoners poorly in the Ahu Ghraib prison, US soldier Lynndie England had abused prisoners— this abuse can be explained through the adoption of social roes and the failure of authority figures to intervene ( Zimbardo’s original hypothesis)
Why did the BBC version, proposed by Reicher and Haslam (2006), fail to replicate the same results as the original Stanford prison study?
-in this, the prisoners worked together as a group and rejected the authority of the guards
-guards failed to identify with the role and didn’t impose their authority onto prisoners.
-conformity to social roles isn’t automatic and their is choice.
