AQA A Level Psychology复习笔记1.1.4 Conformity to Social Roles: Zimbardo

Social rules

The parts people play as members of a social group; such as teacher, students, parent, child, etc.

Zimbardo wanted to investigate how readily people would conform to the social roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life.

• The Stanford prison experiment is one of the most memorable studies in psychology
• There had been many prison riots in America and Zimbardo wanted to know why prison guards behave brutally
• Did they have sadistic personalities or was it their social role, as a prison guard, that created their behaviour
• Zimbardo et al (1973) converted a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison
• He advertised for students to play the roles of prisoners and guards for fortnight-21 male student volunteers who were tested and found to be 'emotionally stable' were selected as participants
• Participants were randomly assigned to either the role of prisoner or guard
• Prisoners and guards were encouraged to conform to their social roles both through instructions and the uniforms they wore

Uniforms

• Prisoners were given a loose smock to wear and a cap to cover their hair. They were identified by their number only and their names were not used
• Guards were given their own Khaki uniform, wooden club, handcuffs and mirror shades to make eye contact with prisoners' difficult
• Both these uniforms created a loss of the individual's personal identity (de-individuation), meaning they would be more likely to conform to their perceived social role

Findings

• Both guards and prisoners were settled into their new roles, very quickly
• The guards adopted their social role quickly, easily and with enthusiasm
• Within hours of beginning the experiment some guards began to harass prisoners and treated them harshly
• Within two days the prisoners rebelled, they ripped their uniforms and shouted and swore at guards
• The guards used fire extinguishers to retaliate, using 'divide-and-rule' tactics, playing the prisoners off against each other and completing headcounts, sometimes at night
• The prisoners soon adopted prisoner-like behaviour too
• They talked about prison issues a great deal of the time
• They ‘told tales’ about each other to the guards
• They started taking the prison rules very seriously, and some even began siding with the guards against prisoners who did not obey the rules
• As the prisoners became more submissive, the guards became more aggressive and assertive taking on their social roles easily
• They demanded ever greater obedience from the prisoners
• The prisoners were dependent on the guards for everything so tried to find ways to please the guards, such as telling tales to fellow prisoners
• Zimbardo ended the experiment after six days instead of the 14 originally planned

Conclusions

• It appears social roles have a strong influence on individuals' behaviour
• Within this study, the guards became brutal and the prisoners submissive
• These roles were easily taken on by all involved, from the prisoners and guards to those that visited the 'prison' to perform specific roles such as the Chaplin
• All of them behaved as if it were a 'real' prison

Evaluation of the research

Strengths

• Prisoners and guards were randomly assigned to their roles, increasing the control Zimbardo had over the internal validity (whether the study actually measured what it intended to) of the study
• A major practical application is that the study meant practices were changed in US prisons to protect the vulnerable and make prisons safer, and a lot of this was due to the study

Weaknesses

• Individual differences and personality also determine the extent to which a person conforms to social roles
• The guards' behaviour differed between them: Not all guards were so harsh or cruel
• It has been said the participants were acting in a stereotypical way
•  For example, one guard said that he based his behaviour on a brutal character he had seen in a film
• There is a lack of realism and many argued that it did not have the realism of a real prison
• There were ethical issues with the study: The participants were subjected to psychological harm, which could have been long-lasting
• The right to withdraw was made difficult, perhaps because Zimbardo himself was playing the role of superintendent, which made it hard for at least one prisoner to withdraw from the study