Outline and evaluate research
into conformity to social roles.
(16 marks)
The Stanford Prison Experiment, a research on conformance to social roles, was
carried out by Zimbardo in 1973. His experiment sought to determine if participants
would follow predetermined social norms in a prison-like setting. Male university
students made up his sample, and they were put into one of two social roles—guard or
prisoner—at random. Local law enforcement officers detained the "prisoners," gave
them numbered smocks to wear, and chained their ankles. The guards were given
handcuffs, a truncheon, sunglasses, uniforms, and instructions to manage the prison
without resorting to physical force. Even though the trial was supposed to go for two
weeks, it was stopped after only six days.
Prisoners and guards alike soon identified with their social roles, according to Zimbardo.
The prisoners started to resist after a few days, but the guards put an end to it fast. After
that, they started to treat them badly. The convicts became more subservient and
identified more with their inferior role as a result of the guards dehumanising them by
waking them in the middle of the night and making them clean bathrooms with their bare
hands.
Zimbardo's findings are in conflict with a more recent replication of the Stanford Prison
Experiment conducted by Reicher and Haslam (2006). The individuals in this replication
did not readily fit into their social positions. For instance, when the prisoners organised
to oppose the guards' authority because the guards did not identify with their status and
refused to enforce it, the balance of power shifted and the prison system collapsed.
These findings directly conflict Zimbardo's findings and imply that social role
conformance may not be as automatic as Zimbardo first suggested.
Furthermore, a person's personality and individual characteristics influence how much
they adapt to social roles. A third of the volunteers in Zimbardo's initial experiment
played the role of the guard, and their behaviour ranged from very sadistic to a few
guards who genuinely assisted the prisoners by showing support and sympathy,
providing cigarettes, and restoring lost privileges. This implies that Zimbardo's result
Outline and evaluate research into conformity to social roles. (16 marks) 1
into conformity to social roles.
(16 marks)
The Stanford Prison Experiment, a research on conformance to social roles, was
carried out by Zimbardo in 1973. His experiment sought to determine if participants
would follow predetermined social norms in a prison-like setting. Male university
students made up his sample, and they were put into one of two social roles—guard or
prisoner—at random. Local law enforcement officers detained the "prisoners," gave
them numbered smocks to wear, and chained their ankles. The guards were given
handcuffs, a truncheon, sunglasses, uniforms, and instructions to manage the prison
without resorting to physical force. Even though the trial was supposed to go for two
weeks, it was stopped after only six days.
Prisoners and guards alike soon identified with their social roles, according to Zimbardo.
The prisoners started to resist after a few days, but the guards put an end to it fast. After
that, they started to treat them badly. The convicts became more subservient and
identified more with their inferior role as a result of the guards dehumanising them by
waking them in the middle of the night and making them clean bathrooms with their bare
hands.
Zimbardo's findings are in conflict with a more recent replication of the Stanford Prison
Experiment conducted by Reicher and Haslam (2006). The individuals in this replication
did not readily fit into their social positions. For instance, when the prisoners organised
to oppose the guards' authority because the guards did not identify with their status and
refused to enforce it, the balance of power shifted and the prison system collapsed.
These findings directly conflict Zimbardo's findings and imply that social role
conformance may not be as automatic as Zimbardo first suggested.
Furthermore, a person's personality and individual characteristics influence how much
they adapt to social roles. A third of the volunteers in Zimbardo's initial experiment
played the role of the guard, and their behaviour ranged from very sadistic to a few
guards who genuinely assisted the prisoners by showing support and sympathy,
providing cigarettes, and restoring lost privileges. This implies that Zimbardo's result
Outline and evaluate research into conformity to social roles. (16 marks) 1
