Social Influence - Zimbardo Flashcards
How did Zimbardo research social roles?
He setup the Stanford prison experiment in which he placed emotionally stable volunteers in a mock prison and randomly assigned them as prisoners or guards
How many rules did the guards have to enforce?
16
How much co tell did the guards have over the prisoners?
Complete control,they even decided when the prisoners could use the toilet
How many days was the experiment intended to run for?
14, however it had to be stopped after 6 days due to the prisoners showing signs of psychological disturbance.
How many prisoners were released early?
3
What conclusion did Zimbardo make from his research?
The power of a situation has the ability to influence ones behaviour. Everyone involved in the experiment conformed to their roles within the prison
Give 4 points of evaluation of Zimbardo’s research
High level of control
Lack of realism
Role of dispositional factors
Ethical issues
What is meant by Control?
Zimbardo had a high level of control over the variables such as the participants he accepted.
This means the study has high internal validity
What is meant by lack of realism?
Banuazizi and Mohavedi (1975) stated that the participants were merely conforming to stereotypes of prison life.
However Zimbardo had found quantitative data that showed 90% of the conversation was about prison life
What is meant by dispositional factors?
Fromm (1973) said Zimbardo was minimising the role of personality factors (dispositional influences). Only 1/3 of the guards acted brutally, the other 2/3 acted fairly or sympathetically suggesting Zimbardo’s conclusion was overstated.
What is meant by ethical issues in the context of Zimbardo’s research
Zimbardo took dual roles in the study being he superintendent and a researcher. This meant he may have treated the participants differently
What is a social role?
The parts we play as members of society eg:parents, students, teachers etc
We behave differently in each social role.
