Describe and evaluate research into conformity to social roles. (16 marks)
After reports of huge numbers brutality in prisons by guards in the 1960s in USA, Zimbardo
wanted to investigate whether prison guards behave brutally because of their personalities
or is their social role and the situation that makes them act in such a way. A social role is a
part which people play as members of various social groups and these are accompanied by
expectations we and other have of what is appropriate in each situation.
Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford university for two-week study.
They advertised for students to volunteer and recruited 24 emotionally stable students who
were then randomly assigned the role of guards or prisoners. The prisoners were arrested
from their own homes to increase the realism of the study and delivered to the prison and
were searched and given a number. The social roles of prisoners and guards were strictly
divided. The prisoners were forced to followed 16 roles enforced by guards and were
referred to only by number. Guards were given their own uniforms, handcuffs, club and
shades.
They found within 2 days the prisoners rebelled against conditions by ripping their uniform
and swearing at guards, the guards highlighted the difference in social roles by spraying
them with fire extinguishers and punishing the prisoners for the smallest mistakes. One
prisoner left study on first day, with two more leaving on the fourth. They found the guards
behaviour became more brutal and aggressive and some enjoyed their power and study had
to be stopped after 6 days. The study revealed the power of the situation to influence
people’s behaviour as guards, prisoners and researcher all conformed to their social role in
prison.
A strength of Zimbardo’s study is that there was a high degree of control over some
variables. For example, Zimbardo was able to control many aspects of the study in terms of
who were allocated the role of the guards/prisoners, which was important as it helped to
rule out individual personality differences and that the prisoners were being arrested at
their homes etc… Therefore, this is a strength because the control of the research increases
the internal validity and we can be confident that the conclusion drawn from the study are
down to the influence of social roles on behaviour.
A limitation of Zimbardo study is it can be criticised on ethical grounds for not protecting the
participants and not gaining full informed consent. For example, many of the prisoners were
reported to suffer from extreme stress throughout the experiment, in addition, the
prisoners were arrested at their homes without giving consent for this to happen. Many of
the prisoners reported embarrassment that their neighbours, family and friends has
witnessed their ‘fake’ arrest. Thus, this is a weakness because, as stated in the BPS
guidelines it is important that all participants are protected and leave an experiment in the
same state in which they entered. Furthermore, participants should not be deceived in
research as full informed consent must be obtained.
A limitation of Zimbardo study is replication of the study which, contradicts the findings of
Zimbardo. For example, Reicher and Haslam replicated Zimbardo’s research by randomly
assigning 15 men to the role of prisoner or guard. In this replication, the participants did not
After reports of huge numbers brutality in prisons by guards in the 1960s in USA, Zimbardo
wanted to investigate whether prison guards behave brutally because of their personalities
or is their social role and the situation that makes them act in such a way. A social role is a
part which people play as members of various social groups and these are accompanied by
expectations we and other have of what is appropriate in each situation.
Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford university for two-week study.
They advertised for students to volunteer and recruited 24 emotionally stable students who
were then randomly assigned the role of guards or prisoners. The prisoners were arrested
from their own homes to increase the realism of the study and delivered to the prison and
were searched and given a number. The social roles of prisoners and guards were strictly
divided. The prisoners were forced to followed 16 roles enforced by guards and were
referred to only by number. Guards were given their own uniforms, handcuffs, club and
shades.
They found within 2 days the prisoners rebelled against conditions by ripping their uniform
and swearing at guards, the guards highlighted the difference in social roles by spraying
them with fire extinguishers and punishing the prisoners for the smallest mistakes. One
prisoner left study on first day, with two more leaving on the fourth. They found the guards
behaviour became more brutal and aggressive and some enjoyed their power and study had
to be stopped after 6 days. The study revealed the power of the situation to influence
people’s behaviour as guards, prisoners and researcher all conformed to their social role in
prison.
A strength of Zimbardo’s study is that there was a high degree of control over some
variables. For example, Zimbardo was able to control many aspects of the study in terms of
who were allocated the role of the guards/prisoners, which was important as it helped to
rule out individual personality differences and that the prisoners were being arrested at
their homes etc… Therefore, this is a strength because the control of the research increases
the internal validity and we can be confident that the conclusion drawn from the study are
down to the influence of social roles on behaviour.
A limitation of Zimbardo study is it can be criticised on ethical grounds for not protecting the
participants and not gaining full informed consent. For example, many of the prisoners were
reported to suffer from extreme stress throughout the experiment, in addition, the
prisoners were arrested at their homes without giving consent for this to happen. Many of
the prisoners reported embarrassment that their neighbours, family and friends has
witnessed their ‘fake’ arrest. Thus, this is a weakness because, as stated in the BPS
guidelines it is important that all participants are protected and leave an experiment in the
same state in which they entered. Furthermore, participants should not be deceived in
research as full informed consent must be obtained.
A limitation of Zimbardo study is replication of the study which, contradicts the findings of
Zimbardo. For example, Reicher and Haslam replicated Zimbardo’s research by randomly
assigning 15 men to the role of prisoner or guard. In this replication, the participants did not
