Section 1 : Social Influence - Conformity To Social Roles Flashcards
What are social roles
Behaviours that society expect from you.
What is an example of social roles
Mother has to fulfil her role as mother by loving and caring for her child
Who set up a study for conformity to social roles
Zimbardo (1973)
What did Zimbardo set up
A mock prison - to see if people would conform to the assigned roles as prisoner or guard
Who were selected for this study
Male students
How were students who were selected for this study assigned roles
They were randomly assigned a role of prisoner or guard
What was being observed during this study
The behaviour of the prisoners and guards
What was the method used for this study
-Prisoners were arrested
-They were taken to prison given uniform and numbers
-Guards also wore uniforms and mirrored sunglasses
What was the result of this study
-Guards tried to assert authority over prisoners
-Prisoners stuck together and then became more passive and obedient, while guards invented nastier punishments
-Experiment was abandoned early because some prisoners were very distressed
What can we conclude about Zimbardo’s Prison Study
-Guards and Prisoners quickly adopted their roles.
-Zimbardo claims that our social role can influence our behaviour - seemingly well balanced men became unpleasant and aggressive in the role of the guards
Was this a controlled observation
Yes, meaning there was good control of variables.
Why can’t the study be generalised
Because it was an artificial environment meaning it cannot be generalised to real life situations
Were there ethical problems with Zimbardo 1973
Yes, prisoners found the experience very distressing
Was there observer bias
Yes. Zimbardo ran the prison himself and later admitted that he became too personally involved in the situation. The conclusion Zimbardo reached doesn’t expIain why some of the participants acted according to their roles
Has anyone replicated Zimbardo’s prison study
No. This is down to design problems
Have their been similar studies to Zimbardo’s Prison Study
Yes: Reicher and Haslam
What was Reicher and Haslam (2006) - The BBC Prison Study
-A controlled observation, in a mock prison which was filmed for tv.
-15 All male participants (5 guards and 10 participants)
-Daily tests for depression, compliance with rules and stress
-Prisoners knew one prisoner chosen at random would become a guard after 3 days
-Ethics committee had power to stop experiment at any time to protect participants
What were the results of Reicher and Haslam (2006)
-Guards failed to form a united group and identify with their role
-In the first 3 days, prisoners acted in a way that would get them promoted to a guard
-After one got promoted, they became stronger as no chance of promotion
-Unequal system between guard and system collapsed as unwillingness of the guards and strength of prisoner group.
-Day 6 prisoners rebelled and participants decided to live in democracy - this also collapsed
-Study was abandoned early on the advice of the ethics committee as participants showed signs of distress
What is the conclusion of Reicher and Haslam
The participants didn’t fit into their expected social roles, suggesting that roles are flexible
What were the evaluations of Reicher and Haslam (2006)
-Contrast in attitudes between prisoners (strong) and guards (weak)
-Criticised for being made for TV - argued that elements of the study were staged and participants played up for the cameras
-Results cannot be generalised - it was artificial situation
-Ethically study was good. Participants weren’t deceived so they were able to give informed consent
-Participants were protected and study abandoned after distressed appeared.
