Social Roles (Social Influence) Flashcards
Social Roles
The parts people play as members of various social groups. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role.
Method (Zimbardo’s 1973 Stanford Prison)
Male students act as either guards or prisoners in a mock prison. Their roles were given randomly and their behaviour was observed. The prisoner’s were ‘arrested’ as they went about their day.
Prisoners were given uniform and numbers.
Guards wore uniforms and mirrored glasses.
Results (Zimbardo’s 1973 Stanford Prison)
The guards tried to assert their authority and the prisoners resisted by sticking together.
Prisoners became more passive and obedient while guards invested nastier punishments.
The experiment was abandoned early as some prisoners became very distressed.
Conclusion (Zimbardo’s 1973 Stanford Prison)
Guards and prisoners adopted their social roles quickly. Shows that our social role can influence our behaviour as seemingly well-balanced men became unpleasant and aggressive as guards.
NSI led to participants conforming as they wanted to meet the standard of the group.
Evaluation positives (Zimbardo’s 1973 Stanford Prison)
A controlled observation so there was good control of variables.
Evaluation Negatives (Zimbardo’s 1973 Stanford prison experiment)
An artificial environment so the results cannot be generalised to real life scenarios.
Unethical: participants found it very distressing
Zimbardo became personally involved, creating an observer bias
The conclusion doesn’t explain why only some participants acted according to their assigned roles
No informed consent (unaware of humiliation, being arrested etc)
Savin (1973) said ends didn’t justify means. zimbardo replied saying he spoke to participants, who were given longitudinal care, and it was intended to make people uneasy
Method (Reicher and Haslam 2006 BBC prison study)
A controlled observation in a mock prison, filmed for television.
15 male volunteers were randomly assigned to two groups: guards and prisoners.
There were daily tests to measure levels of depression, compliance with the rules and stress.
They knew that one prisoner would be promoted to the role of guard within three days
Results (Reicher and Haslam 2006 BBC prison study)
The guards failed to form a united group and identify with their role. They felt uncomfortable with the inequality of the situation and did not always exercise their power. Prisoners tried to act in a way that would get them promoted.
Prisoners became a stronger group once the chance of promotion had been taken. The system collapsed under the unwillingness of the guards and the strength of the prisoners.
On day 6, the prisoners rebelled and the participants decided to live in a democracy which then collapsed due to tensions.
Former prisoners wanted to set up a stricter regime with them as the leaders. The study was abandoned early when participants showed signs of stress.
Conclusion (Reicher and Haslam 2006 BBC prison study)
The participants did not fit into their expected social roles, suggesting that these roles are flexible.
Evaluation positives (Reicher and Haslam 2006 BBC prison study)
The ethics of the study were good- the participants were not deceived and could give informed consent
Participants were protected by an ethics committee
They were debriefed and offered counselling afterwards
Evaluation negatives (Reicher and Haslam 2006 BBC prison study)
the prisoners were strong and the guards were weak, likely because the guards weren’t empowered (like in Zimbardo’s) to maintain order.
as it was made for TV, many argued that elements were staged and that participants played up for the cameras
artificial situation, cannot be generalised to real life
A mock psychiatric ward
Norma Jean Orlando (1973)
Staff members of the hospital were given the role of patients and held in the ward
Other staff members were also involved but just carried out their normal duties
-Patients started behaving like real patients of the ward, conforming to the roles assigned to them
-showed depression and withdrawal and tried to escape
-later stated they felt frustrated, anxious and despairing
-lost their identity and didn’t fee like they were being treated as people
