Zimbardo 1973
Conformity to social roles
Study:
Procedures:
To investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guards and prisoners in a fake scenario
Findings:
Took place in a converted basement in the psychology department at Stanford University
Participants were screened prior to the experiment for physical and psychological problems
24 participants who volunteered for an experiment that had no idea what would consist of
'Prisoners' were unexpectedly arrested and treated like proper criminals
'Guards' were told to do anything to keep order
Prisoners rebelled by barricading themselves in their cells
Guards took on their roles with enthusiasm eg. making prisoners clean toilets with their bare hands
Some prisoners had to leave earlier because they began to develop depressive symptoms
The study stopped after six days when the female assistant intervened
Conclusions:
The experiment showed the power of the situation to influence peoples behaviour
Guards and prisoners conformed to their roles very quickly
Evaluation:
Control:
Lack of realism:
Control over variables
Meant there was an increase of internal validity
Argued that they were play acting rather than conforming
Performances were based on how they 'should' perform
Exaggeration of roles:
However 90% of the conversation was prison life
Only a 1/3 of guards were violent
Difference of behaviour indicates that they knew what was right/wrong despite pressures to conform
Ethics:
Dehumanised
Decency was removed
Psychological harm
'Prisoners reputation damaged
Harmful
Unnerving