Zimbardo's research Flashcards
Conformity to social roles
What is a social role?
The “parts” people play as members of various social groups, these are accompanied by expectations that we and others deem suitable behaviour for that role
What is the name of Zimbardo’s experiment?
The Stanford Prison experiment
What question did Zimbardo et al want to answer?
Do prison guards behave brutally because they have sadistic personalities, or is it the situation that creates such behaviour?
How did Zimbardo pick his participants?
He advertised for male student volunteers, did psychological testing, and picked the ones deemed “emotionally stable”, the students were randomly assigned roles
How did Zimbardo make the experiment seem real to the prisoners before it began?
The students were arrested at their homes by local police and delivered to the mock prison. Prisoners were blindfolded, strip searched, deloused and given a uniform and number
How did Zimbardo take away the prisoners identity
He made them follow a strict timetable and 16 rules. He and the guards only used the prisoners numbers, no names
What were the guards given to reinforce their role?
Uniform, wooden club, handcuffs, keys, mirror shades and complete power over the prisoners, even when they could go to the toilet
Summarise Zimbardo’s findings
Guard took to their roles quick, Prisoners rebelled after two days due to mistreatment, Prisoners became depressed and anxious, One prisoner was released on the first day, two released on the fourth, guards began to identify more and more with their roles and the brutality/power that came with
How long did the experiment last vs how long it was meant to last
Lasted six days, meant to last 14 days
What can you conclude from this study?
Guards, prisoners and researchers all conformed to their roles within the prison. Roles were taken on very easily even people who came into to perform specific functions found themselves behaving as if they were in a prison
