Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment Flashcards
When was the Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment?
1973
What was the aim of the experiment?
To investigate the extent of which people would conform to the social roles of guards or prisoners in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life.
Zimbardo wanted to see whether social conformity depended on either _____________ factors or ___________ factors.
Dispositional Factors - personality.
Situational Factors - the prison setup.
How many people participated? Which gender?
- All male.
What did Zimbardo do to ensure that only mentally stable people participated?
Made potential participants do a mental health assessment to ensure that they were all stable.
Describe the procedure of the experiment.
24 participants were randomly assigned either the role of a guard or a prisoner.
Prisoners were assigned a number as their ID, were stripped and deloused upon arrival.
Guards were told to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain order, physical violence was prohibited.
It was due to last 14 days.
What did the guards do to the prisoners who misbehaved?
Punished them either by verbally insulting them or making them partake in menial exercises such as push-ups.
What happened with Prisoner 8612?
Had to leave after a day because he showed signs of severe emotional distress (screaming, crying).
How many people left due to psychological distress?
4.
Who questioned the morality of Zimbardo’s experiment?
Maslach, she said it was cruel & immoral.
What did Zimbardo conclude from the experiment?
Situational Factors have a larger effect on social conformity.
People will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play, especially when the role is as heavily stereotyped as a prison guard’s is.
The prison environment was an important factor in creating the guards’ brutal behaviour.
Statistics regarding personality of guards?
1/3 = kind (cigarette treats) 1/3 = brutal (sadistic & abusive) 1/3 = fair (maintained order fairly)
Which percentage of the prisoners’ conversations were about prison life? What does this show?
90%. That the prisoners were immersed, they felt like it was real.
Which type of characteristics did Zimbardo fail to take into account?
Demand characteristics. Most of the guards claimed they were simply play-acting their role as a guard. Because they were playing a role, their behaviour may not have been influenced by the same factors which affect behaviour in real life. This means that the results can’t be generalised to real life, therefore the results lack ecological validity.
Results can only be applied to _____________ cultures. Why?
Individualist cultures.
Because only Americans were used.
