Zimbardo's Conformity to social roles AO3 Flashcards
One strength is high control over extraneous variables.
Researchers assessed the emotional stability of the participants prior to the experiment and were randomly allocated to the role of prisoner and guard.
This allowed Zimbardo to measure the power of social roles on conformity than individuals differences.
Increasing internal validity
One weakness gender bias
Used male only sample (androcentric) making it difficult to generalise the findings to women. It could be argued that the role of a guard is a violent one and women are stereotypically more caring and concerned for other.
Reducing the external validity.
One weakness major ethical issues
There was a lack of informed consent as the prisoners did not consent to being arrested at their homes and were only told that they were taking part in a prison life experiment.
Prisoners were not protected from as some showed signs of psychological disturbance.
This reduces the credibility of Zimbardo’s research
