Conformity to social roles - Zimbardo

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  • Created by: AK
  • Created on: 14-11-17 14:15
Social roles
The 'parts' people play as members of various social groups. These are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropiate behaviour in each role
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Procedure
Mock prison in basement of Stanford uni, selected 'emotionally stable', prisoners arrested - blindfolded,*****-searched,deloused and given uniform and number. 16 rules had to be followed. Guards had uniform - wooden club,handcuffs,keys+mirror shades
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Findings
6 days instead of 14, rebelled after 2 days, guards used divide-and-rule, frequent headcounts, prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious. 3 left, 1 went on hunger strike and was put in 'the hole'. Guards became brutal and aggressive
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Conclusions
All conformed to their social roles
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Evaluation - Control
Only emotionally stable participants were chosen. Randomly assigned either guard or prisoner - to rule out personality differences (behaviour was due to pressure of situation) this increases the INTERNAL VALIDITY
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Evaluation - Lack of realism
Other psychologists argued participants were merely play-acting, based on stereotypes of how they think they should act. However quantitative data showed 90% of conversations were about prison life
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Evaluation - Role of dispositional influences
Fromm accused Zimbardo of exaggerating the power of the situation to affect behaviour. Only a third of guards were brutal and aggressive
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Evaluation - Lack of research support
Partial replication by BBC had very different findings - prisoners took control of guards. The researchers used social identity theory to explain this outcome
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Evaluation - Ethical issues
Zimbardo took on a dual role in the study, so cared more about the running of his prison (superintendent) than the participants well being (researcher)
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Mock prison in basement of Stanford uni, selected 'emotionally stable', prisoners arrested - blindfolded,*****-searched,deloused and given uniform and number. 16 rules had to be followed. Guards had uniform - wooden club,handcuffs,keys+mirror shades

Back

Procedure

Card 3

Front

6 days instead of 14, rebelled after 2 days, guards used divide-and-rule, frequent headcounts, prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious. 3 left, 1 went on hunger strike and was put in 'the hole'. Guards became brutal and aggressive

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

All conformed to their social roles

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Only emotionally stable participants were chosen. Randomly assigned either guard or prisoner - to rule out personality differences (behaviour was due to pressure of situation) this increases the INTERNAL VALIDITY

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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