Conformity to social roles: Zimbardo

Conformity to social roles 

The Stanford prison experiement

• Procedure
  • Zimbardo et al set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford university to test whether the brutality of prison guards was a result of sadistic personalities or whether it was created by the situation
  • Recruited 24 emotionally stable male students determined by psychological testing
  • 'Prisoners' were arrested in their homes and delivered to the 'prison', blidfolded, *****-searched, deloused and issued a uniform and a number
  • De-individualisation:
    • Prisoner's names never used only their numbers
    • Guards had their own uniform- wooden club, handcuffs, key and sunglasses. They were told they had complete power over prisoners
• Findings/conclusions
  • Within two days prisoners rebelled against their treatment- ripped uniforms, swore at the guards
  • Guards harassed prisoners constantly by conducting frequent headcounts
  • The guards took up their roles with enthusiasm. Their behaviour threatened the…