Social Roles

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Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment:

Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University

Students were asked to volunteer and were randomly allocated into prisoner or guard roles

Prisoners were arrested at their homes, taken to prison, stripped, deloused and given uniforms

The guards were also given a uniform and given the task of enforcing a set of behaviour rules which they could set themselves

During the beginning of the experiment the guards relished their roles, removing privileges such as reading/writing letters when prisoners misbehaved

However as time went on guards became more brutal with their punishments. Punishments included the loss of food/sleep/blankets/washing facilities, cleaning toilets with bare hands and solitary confinement

For most of the time, prisoners obeyed, however one began a hunger strike. He was put into solitary confinement and rejected by other prisoners

One prisoner was released due to 'acute emotional disturbance' and another due to a psychosomatic rash

The experiment was designed to last two weeks however had to be ended after 6 days

Participants quickly conformed to their roles. Good guards were tough, aggressive and arrogant

Prisoners rapidly conformed in order to avoid nasty punishment

The experiment shows the power and potency of social influence. The participants became the role they were playing

Zimbardo had some control over the variables like the selection of participants. Emotionally stable individuals were chosen and randomly assigned to roles in order to rule out individual personality differences as an explanation for findings. This is a strength because it increases internal validity

It was argued that participants were play acting rather than genuinely conforming. They conformed to stereotypes and roles they had seen on TV rather than actual guard roles

Actually only a minority of guards behaved in a brutal manner. Some were keen on applying rules fairly and others actively tried to help and support the prisoners

Not a reliable experiment - participants given little indication on how to behave whereas in real life guards would be given more guidance and would be trained

Huge ethical issues