Conformity to social roles: Zimbardo's research

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  • Created by: IvyVega
  • Created on: 03-05-18 14:36
Procedure part 1
Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology area at Stanford university to test whether the brutality of prison guards was the result of sadistic personalities or whether it was created by the situation
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Procedure part 2
they recruited 24 emotionally stable students detemined by psychological testing- randomly assigned roles of guards or prisoners. to increase realism, prisoners were arrested in their homes and delivered to the prison, blindfolded, *****-searched.
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procedure part 2
the prisoners daily routines were regulated. 16 rules to follow, which were enforced. they were de-individualised. prisoners lost their names, and guards had complete power of the prisoners, and had their own uniform.
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findings part 1
within two days, the prisoners rebelled, they ripped their uniforms, shouted, swore. guards harassed prisoners by frequent headcounts, and guards highlighted differences in social roles by creating opportunities to enforce the rules.
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findings part 2
guards took their roles enthusiastically. threatening prisoners psychological and physical health. the study was stopped after six days instead of the planned eight.
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findings part 3
the simulation revealed the power of the situation to influence peoples behaviour. all the people conformed to their social roles within the prison. the more the guards identified in their roles, the more brutal and aggressive they became.
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strength 1- control over variables
emotionally stable participants were recruited, the behaviour was due to the pressure of the situation and not their personalities due to random allocation, this control increased internal validity, confident in drawing a conclusion from the results.
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limitation 2- major ethical issues
one issue because Zimbardo was both lead researcher and prison superintendent. when participant asked to leave Zimbardo acted as superintendent and not a researcher. limited Zimbardos ability to protect his students from harm as his roles conflicted.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

they recruited 24 emotionally stable students detemined by psychological testing- randomly assigned roles of guards or prisoners. to increase realism, prisoners were arrested in their homes and delivered to the prison, blindfolded, *****-searched.

Back

Procedure part 2

Card 3

Front

the prisoners daily routines were regulated. 16 rules to follow, which were enforced. they were de-individualised. prisoners lost their names, and guards had complete power of the prisoners, and had their own uniform.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

within two days, the prisoners rebelled, they ripped their uniforms, shouted, swore. guards harassed prisoners by frequent headcounts, and guards highlighted differences in social roles by creating opportunities to enforce the rules.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

guards took their roles enthusiastically. threatening prisoners psychological and physical health. the study was stopped after six days instead of the planned eight.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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