Lesson 4- conformity to social roles

Question 1

social roles

Answer 1

behaviours expected of an individual who occupies a social position or status, people can conform to the social roles assigned to them

Question 2

Zimbardo (1973)

Answer 2

created a simulated prison in the basement of Stanford University Psychology department, 24 emotionally and psychologically stable young men were recruited and randomly assigned to the role of prisoner or guard, guards had complete control over the prisoners who were confined to their cells around the clock except for meals, toilet privileges, head counts and work, guards were told to maintain order using any means necessary except for physical violence

Question 3

findings

Answer 3

second day: prisoners tried to rebel, ripped off their prison numbers and barricaded themselves in their cell, guards sprayed them with carbon dioxide, stripped them naked, took their beds away and forced leaders into solitary confinement
over the next few days: guards became increasingly cruel and aggressive, creating a brutal atmosphere, prisoners became passive and depressed as guards used verbal abuse, forced them to do repeated press ups, pushed them into urinals and left them in pitch black cupboards for hours
guards became so aggressive that the study has to be ended after only 6 days when meant to last two weeks because of concerns about the psychological health of the prisoners who were showing signs of severe distress

Question 4

evaluation (5 weaknesses)

Answer 4

-highly unethical, prisoners were subjected to psychological harm, five prisoners had to be released early because of their extreme reactions such as crying, rage and acute anxiety, however, zimbardo did not expect the guards to behave the way they did so this harm could not be predicted
-zimbardo took on role of prison warden and became very involved, lost objectivity, had to be told by a colleague to end study, validity can be questioned
-unrepresentative, all participants were white young middle class male students from Stanford Uni, therefore results can not be generalised to women and other cultures (bias)
-demand characteristics, guards may have behaved the way they did due to DM, some reported afterwards they thought the experimenters wanted them to behave aggressively, lacks validity
-individual differences, not all guards conformed to their given role, reluctant to become involved in cruelty towards prisoners while others were very abusive, suggests ID important in determining the extent to which participants will conform to social roles