Conformity to Social Roles

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Social roles are the part that people play as members of a social group - such as student, teacher, policeman, etc. There is considerable pressure to conform to the expectations of a social role. Conforming to a social role is called identification.

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Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment

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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.

Procedure:

To study roles people play in prison situations, Zimbardo 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 a fortnight. Participants were randomly assigned to either the role of prisoner or guard in a simulated prison environment.

Prisoners were issued a uniform, and referred to by their number only. Guards were issued a khaki uniform, together with whistles, handcuffs and dark glasses - to make eye contact with prisoners impossible. The guards worked shifts of eight hours each (the other guards remained on call). No physical violence was permitted.

Zimbardo observed the behaviour of the prisoners and guards (as a researcher), and also acted as prison warden.

Findings:

Within a very short time, both guards and prisoners were settling into their new roles, with the guards adopting theirs quickly and easily. Within hours of beginning the experiment, some guards began to harass prisoners. They behaved in a brutal and sadistic manner, apparently enjoying it. Other guards joined in, and other prisoners were also tormented.

The prisoners soon adopted a prisoner-like behaviour too. They talked about prison issues a great deal of the time. They 'told tales' on each other to the guards. They started taking the prison rules very seriously, and some even began siding with the guards against other prisoners who did not obey the rules.

As the prisoners became more submissive, the guards became more aggressive and assertive. 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' on fellow prisoners.

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Demand characteristics could explain the findings of the study. Most of the guards later claimed they were simply acting. Also, because the guards and prisoners were only playing a role, their behaviour may not be influenced by the same factors which affect behaviour in real-life. This means the studies findings cannot be reasonably generalised to real-life, such as prison settings, and so the study has low ecological validity.

The study may also lack population validity as the sample compromised of US male students. The studies findings, therefore, cannot be applied - for example - to female prisons, or those from other countries. For example, America is an individualist culture (where people are generally less conforming) and so the results may be different in collectivist cultures (such as Asian countries.

A strength of the study is that it has altered the way US prisons are run. For example, juveniles accused of federal crimes are no longer housed before trial with adult prisoners (due to the risk of violence against them).

The study has received many ethical criticisms, including lack of fully informed consesnt by participants as Zimbardo himself did not know what would happen in the experiment (it was unpredictable). Also, the prisoners did not consent to being 'arrested' at their homes. Also, participants playing the role of prisoner were not protected from psychological harm, experiencing incidents of humiliation and distress. For example, one prisoner had to be released after 36 hours because of uncontrollable bursts of screaming, crying and anger. However, in Zimbardo's defence, the emotional distress experienced by the prisoners could not have been predicted from the outset. In addition, Zimbardo did conduct debriefing sessions for several years afterwards and concluded that there were no lasting negative effects.

Another strength of the study is that the harmful treatment of participants led to the formal recognition of ethical guidelines. Studies must now gain ethical approval before they are conducted. An ethics committee review whethter the potential benefits of the research are justifiable in the light of possible risk of physical or psychological harm. They may request the searchers to make changes to their studies design or procedure - to make it ethically acceptable - or, in extreme cases, deny approval of the study altogether.