L3 - Zimbardo - SPE Flashcards
What was his aim?
The study aimed to investigate whether people conform to a given social role
What was the procedure of the SPE?
24 psychologically healthy males were randomly assigned role of ‘prisoner’ or ‘guard’
Prisoners arrested unexpectedly in their homes and then given a uniform + ID number at the prison
The guards had a uniform, club, whistle + reflective sunglasses
Prisoners had 3 meals, 3 supervised toilet trips + 2 visits a week
It was meant to last 2 weeks
What were the findings of the SPE?
Guards quickly became tyrannical + abusive
‘Role behaviour’ continued even when they didn’t know they were being watched
5 prisoners released early from extreme reactions (anxiety, rage)
Study terminated after 6 days
Guards: increasingly cruel + sadistic
Prisoners: increasingly passive + accepting of their role
Why were uniforms + reflective shades used?
To create de-individuation which increased likelihood that participants would conform to the previewed social role
What does de-individuation mean?
A loss of personal identity
Why did Zimbardo conclude that de-individuation increases conformity?
Because individuals feel less responsible for their actions
Exam question (4 marks)
Discuss the argument over whether role conformity is automatic
(5)
P - Z believed people automatically descend into role behaviour
E - but not all guards became abusive in SPE
E - contrasts Z’s assertion that role conformity automatically overwhelms us cause of the variation in behaviour observed
E - Haslam + Reicher argue that the SPE showed guards chose how to act
L - inadequate explanation of behaviour of individual differences such as personality
Exam question (4 marks)
Explain + discuss potential impact of demand characteristics in SPE
(4)
P - demand characteristics undermine the experience
E - Banuazizi + Movahedi found students could guess aims of SPE from a description of method even tho they never heard of study
E - we can assume participants knew the aims + could have altered behaviour
L - demand characteristics may been attributed play, weakening internal validity of experiment because role of conformity not being measured
Exam question (4 marks)
Discuss application to real life
(4)
P - has real world application
E - used to understand abuse of prisoners by US military guards of Abu Ghraib prison in terms of role conformity + situational factors (could have external validity)
E - however, depends on extent to which we trust internal validity cause if we accept the individual differences + demand characteristics contributed to behaviour, then this undermined how well it can be used to explain that prison,
L - cautious when generalising conclusions from the SPE + may question its utility
What ethical issues are there with this study?
2
Zimbardo was the warden and was also influenced by his role and therefore lost sight of the aim
Participants were arrested unexpectedly by real police without consent
What did reicher er al find?
Challenged Zimbardo’s belief that guards drift into sadistic behaviour as an automatic consequence of them embracing the role
They pointed out that guard behaviour ranged from fully sadistic to a few ‘good guards’ who didn’t degrade or harass prisoners and even did them small favours
This shows guards chose how to behave
