Research into conformity of social roles (Zimbardo and Orlando)

Question 1

what was Zimbardo’s aim

Answer 1

• to examine whether people would conform to the social roles of a prison guard or prisoner, when placed in a mock prison environment.
• he also wanted to examine whether the behaviour displayed in prisons was due to internal dispositional factors (personality), the people themselves, or external situational factors, the environment and conditions of the prison.

Question 2

what was Zimbardo’s procedure

Answer 2

• sample consisted of 21 male American university students who volunteered in response to a newspaper advert.
• The participants were selected on the basis of their physical and mental stability (psychological evaluation) and were each paid $15 a day to take part. - The participants were randomly assigned to one of two social roles, prisoners or guards.
• Zimbardo wanted to make the experience as realistic as possible, turning the basement of Stanford University into a mock prison.
• the ‘prisoners’ were arrested by real local police and fingerprinted, stripped and given a numbered smock to wear, with chains placed around their ankles. - The guards were given military uniforms, dark reflective sunglasses, handcuffs and a truncheon.
• Outfits deindividualized the guards and prisoners - creates a loss of personal identity - you don’t have to take responsibility for your actions and your part of a group.
• The guards were instructed to run the prison without using physical violence.
• The experiment was set to run for two weeks.
• Zimbardo undertook the role of prison superintendent.

Question 3

what were Zimbardo’s findings

Answer 3

• found that both the prisoners and guards quickly identified with their social roles.
• Within days the prisoners rebelled, but this was quickly crushed by the guards, who then grew increasingly abusive towards the prisoners.
• The guards dehumanised the prisoners, waking them during the night and forcing them to clean toilets with their bare hands; the prisoners became increasingly submissive, identifying further with their subordinate role.
• Five of the prisoners were released from the experiment early, because of their adverse reactions to the physical and mental torment, for example, crying and extreme anxiety.
• Although the experiment was set to run for two weeks, it was terminated after just six days, when fellow postgraduate student Christina Maslach convinced Zimbardo that conditions in his experiment were inhumane. [Maslach later became Zimbardo’s wife].

Question 4

what were Zimbardo’s conclusions

Answer 4

• people quickly conform to social roles, even when the role goes against their moral principles.
• he concluded that situational factors were largely responsible for the behaviour found, as none of the participants had ever demonstrated these behaviours previously.

Question 5

what were the +ve AO3 points of Zimbardo’s experiment

Answer 5

• real world applications
• internal validity –> had control over who his ppts were

Question 6

expand on the +ve AO3 point, real world applications

Answer 6

• The guards at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (2003) were similarly affected by an ‘evil situation’ which led them to behave in ways which they would normally reject.
• Just like some of the guards in Zimbardo’s prison study, the real-life guards at Abu Ghraib were very creative in their evil behaviour

Question 7

what are the -ve AO3 points of Zimbardo’s experiment

Answer 7

• contradictory research
• demand characteristics
• disposition - 1/3 of guard were brutal
• population validity
• ethics

Question 8

expand on the -ve AO3 point, contradictory research

Answer 8

BBC Prison Study → calls into question it’s reliability
findings:
- ppts did not conform as automatically - Over the course of the study the prisoners increasingly identified as a group and worked collectively to challenge authority of guards.
- The guards a failed to identity with their role, which made them reluctant to enforce authority.
- This lead to the collapse of the prison guards system

Question 9

expand on the -ve AO3 point, demand characteristics

Answer 9

Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) argued the pps were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to social roles

Question 10

expand on the -ve AO3 point, population validity

Answer 10

White men, cannot be generalised for women, only one individual group

Question 11

expand on the ethical issues

Answer 11

• Zimbardo’s study was considered ethical because he followed the guidelines of the Stanford University ethics committee that had approved the research (it was funded with a government grant).
• The volunteers knew they were being used in a study but they did not know when the study would be taking place, so the initial shock of being randomly arrested one morning and taken to the mock prison put them in a mild state of shock.
• As Zimbardo was also conforming to the social role of prison superintendent, he was not able to fulfil his main ethical responsibility.
• This should have been for the welfare of his participants.
• Instead, they were exposed to the risk of psychological harm. For example, at least one participant was finally allowed to leave the study, but later than he should have been.
• Zimbardo should have given up one or other of his roles. For example, he could have remained as the lead researcher, allowing him to be detached from the study and more objective about what was happening to his participants.
• This criticism does not challenge the findings but is relevant as a criticism of the research.
• The experiment shouldn’t have been glorified