Zimbardo Conformity To Social Roles Flashcards
Who and how many participants?
124 male undergraduates
What were the two roles
Prisoner and guard
How were participants allocated to each condition?
Random allocation
What made them feel more part of their role?
The guards wore uniforms and had handcuffs, they also had sunglasses so the prisoners could
not see their eyes to reinforce the boundary between them. The prisoners wore dresses.
What did he find?
Identification happened really quickly for both social roles. Guards would constantly harass prisoners to reinforce how powerless they are. Prisoners also got into their role and were on,g talking about their prison life as though they were really prisoners. The guards became increasingly more demanding of obedience while the prisoners became more submissive. This shows the internalisation of the social roles.
