Social - Reicher and Haslam

Question 0

What were the aims?

Answer 0

• to provide data about interactions between groups of unequal power
• to discover conditions which lead individuals to identify with their social group
• to examine the role of different factors in group behaviour
• to develop ethical guidelines in social psychology issues

Overall aim- to see how people react to a system of inequality, do they accept or reject it

Question 1

What was the study about?

Answer 1

Rethinking the psychology of tyranny

Question 2

What was the research method used?

Answer 2

Experimental case study

Question 3

What sample technique was used

Answer 3

Volunteer sample

Question 4

Describe the sample

Answer 4

332 men applied for the experiment. After 3 phases of screening to eliminate people with medical conditions they finished with 15 all male participants. There was 5 groups of 3 participants, 1 would be a guard, the other 2 prisoners ( groups were matched in similar characteristics). One participant wasn’t introduced until the 3rd IV was

Question 5

What were the IVs?

Answer 5

Permeability- the chance of a movement between social groups

Legitimacy- belief whether the group decisions were justified

Cognitive processes- participants belief in the possibility of change to their routine

Question 6

What was the DV?

Answer 6

The reaction to the system of inequality

Question 7

How was the DV measured?

Answer 7

• salvia swabs each day, to check cortisol levels for stress
• a psychometric test each day
• 24/7 CCTV

Question 8

What were the controls of this study?

Answer 8

• uniform
• the 2 tests everyday
• all prisoners having similar cells
• reicher and haslam compared results

Question 9

Outline a conclusion of the study

Answer 9

The study shows that the final events of the study, of which resembled Stanford, we’re not reached due to the position or role of the social groups, but by the failure of these groups

Question 10

Give two practical applications

Answer 10

• shows us the power of groups

- shows us that groups of higher power can be positive and act accordingly

Question 11

Evaluate the ecological validity of the study

Answer 11

On one hand it’s low. The group took place in a controlled, fake institution - while the participants weren’t actually their roles. However it can be fairly evident, as the participants experienced ‘experimental realism’ as they at times believes they were in their roles

Question 12

Discuss the ethics of this study

Answer 12

This study was entirely ethical. There was 24/7 CCTV, the two tests each day to make sure everyone was alright, the three phases of screening, approval from the ethical committee, paramedics on site and security guards awaiting

Question 13

Examples of where both data types was used

Answer 13

Quantitative - results from the two daily tests, cortisol and psychometric
Qualitative - the CCTV footage

Question 14

Two strengths of this study

Answer 14

• both data types collected

- extremely ethical

Question 15

Disadvantages of this study

Answer 15

• low ecological validity

- volunteer sample, one type of person

Question 16

State two improvements of the study you’d make

Answer 16

• include both genders

- use genuine prison guards

Question 17

What were the phase 1 results?

Answer 17

This was when they rejected inequality. prisoners showed little identification with their role until the promotion was gone. The guards also did not identify with their roles, leading to ineffective leadership. A role switch on day 3 and a new prisoner on day 5. Conflict and insecurity occurred as he guards authority wasn’t legitimate. Scores of the tests showed guards were more depressed than prisoners.

Question 18

What were the phase 2 results?

Answer 18

This is when they embraced inequality. A commune was made, but prisoners started to break it. Therefore guards ordered a harsher hierarchy. Overall the participants started to show more authoritarianism, and overall the scores were nearly the same on both tests for all participants. Ethical restrains caused the test to be halted on day 8 as people started to revolt.