Zimbardo Flashcards
What was Zimbardo’s aims ?
Aimed to understand the brutal behaviour found in prisons. He had two potential theories :
Dispositional hypothesis - there was violence due to the suture of people found in prison - they were bad seeds both prisoners and officers
Situational hypothesis - environmental situation , the brutal and dehumanising situation found in prisons led to the behaviour.
What was Zimbardo’s procedure ?
There were 21 male students - elected by a psychological testing that showed them to be emotionally stable. They were randomly allocated the role of prisoner or officer. The social roles were encouraged by two routes :
Uniform - prisoners were stripped search and given a number and uniform this encourages de-individualisation - guards enforce rules and had their own uniforms with handcuffs and sunglasses
Instructions and behaviour - prisoners were told they cannot leave without asking for parole - officers were told they had complete control over the prisoners
What did Zimbardo find and conclude ?
The guards played their roles enthusiastically and treated prisoners harshly. The prisoners rebelled within two days. After the rebellion die down the prisoners become more obedient and emotionless. Three prisoners were released early due to signs of psychological disturbance. The study ended after 6 days instead of 14 days. Social roles are powerful influences on our behaviour. He found it to be situational.
What is one strength of Zimbardo’s study ?
P - One strength of the SPE is the control over key variables
E - Emotionally-stable participants were recruited and randomly allocated the roles of guards or prisoners. The guards and prisoners has those roles only by chance. So their behaviour was due to the role itself and not their personalities.
E - This control increased the study’s internal validity , so we have more confidence in drawing conclusions about the effect of social roles on conformity.
What is one limitation of Zimbardo’s study ?
P - One limitation is that the SPE lacked realism of a true prison.
E - It was suggested that participants were play-acting. Their performances reflected stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave. One guard based his character from a film and prisoners rebelled because they assumed that what they did.
E - this suggests the SPE tells us little about infirmity to social roles in actual prisons and has little application to real world.
What is another limitation is Zimbardo’s study ?
P - Another limitation is that Zimbardo exaggerated the power of the roles.
E - he power of social roles to influence behaviour any have been exaggerated in the SPE. Only a third of the guards behaved brutally. Another third applied the rules fairly. The rest supported the prisoners , offering them cigarettes and reinstating Priceline’s.
E - his suggests the SPE overstates the view that the guards were conforming to a brutal role and minimised dispositional influences (e.g. personality)
