Zimbardo's study- Conformity in social roles
- Created by: MollyL20
- Created on: 14-09-20 19:45
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- Zimbardo (1974)
- Aim
- To look at the extent to which people would conform to social norms
- To test the dispositional vs situational model
- Method
- All young male,healthy psychology from a middle class, privileged areas
- They all volunteered to take part and were randomly allocated to be a guard or a prisoner
- It took place in the basement of the Stanford University
- The guards were told to look after and keep the prisoners under control
- The prisoners were unexpectedly arrested at home by the police, then stripped, deloused and given a prison uniform and number which were who they were now referred to as
- The guards were also given a khaki uniform, batons and mirrored sunglasses. They worked shifts the went home
- The prisoners were unexpectedly arrested at home by the police, then stripped, deloused and given a prison uniform and number which were who they were now referred to as
- The guards were told to look after and keep the prisoners under control
- It took place in the basement of the Stanford University
- They all volunteered to take part and were randomly allocated to be a guard or a prisoner
- All young male,healthy psychology from a middle class, privileged areas
- Results
- The experiment was called off after only 6 days
- The guards became too brutal and prisoners were mentally and emotionally breaking down, one broke out in a serious rash and another went on a hunger strike
- Prisoners became apathetic and submissive to the guards
- They stopped standing up to the guards and just did what they said to avoid humiliation and punishments
- Conclusion
- Their reactions may have been extreme since they conformed to social roles
- Each role requires different roles. If you are given a new role, you change your behaviour to suit it
- In the study, students were given new roles and just simply conformed to them
- Each role requires different roles. If you are given a new role, you change your behaviour to suit it
- Deindividualisation explains the behaviour of the guards
- The guards became immersed in their roles, they lost their sense of identity
- They may have acted in a sadistic way because they just followed the group norms, it wasn't personal
- The guards became immersed in their roles, they lost their sense of identity
- Their reactions may have been extreme since they conformed to social roles
- Evaluation (Breif)
- Strengths
- Maintained some kind of control and ecological validity
- Limitation
- Isn't unrepresentative. All white, male psychology students from privileged backgrounds
- Strengths
- Aim
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