social influence - conformity to social roles Flashcards
what are social roles
the parts we play as members of social groups based on certain expectations about the behaviour that is appropriate
what did zimbardo want to investigate
if the reason for high levels of aggression in american prisons was due to the prisoners and guards personalities or the situation of the prison environment
what was the procedure of zimbardos study
he created a fake prison in the basement of stanford university. 21 of the most physically and mentally stable males were chosen out of 75 volunteers. there was a random selection of 10 prisoners and 11 guards. prisoners were given a realistic arrest by local police and were fingerprinted, stripped and given a number in attempt to dehumanise them. they had to follow strict rules throughout the day. guards had complete control and were given uniform, handcuffs and sunglasses to avoid eye contact
what were the results of zimbardos study
prisoners and guards conformed to their social roles quickly however in 2 days the prisoners revolted against the poor treatment from the guards and in 6 days the study had to be cancelled early due to fears for the prisoners mental health. everyone involved in the experiment conformed to their social roles showing the situational power of the prison environment to change behaviour
what is the critical research of reicher and haslam
they recreated zimbardos study for the BBC however in their simulation prisoners became dominant over the guards who were unable to control their behaviour
what is a weakness of zimbardos study
it is argued that participants displayed demand characteristics as they may have been acting according to stereotypes rather than conforming to social roles
what are the strengths of zimbardos study
- the study has high internal validity as zimbardo selected participants who were mentally stable
- zimbardo followed the guidelines of stanford university ethics commitee who also approved the experiment
