1.1.4 Conformity to Social Roles: Zimbardo

Social rules

This study focuses on social identity i.e. the ways in which group membership influences behaviour e.g. your social role as  teacher or  student, parent, child, etc.

Zimbardo wanted to investigate how readily people would conform to the assigned social roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life.

• The Stanford prison experiment is one of the most memorable studies in psychology
• There had been many prison riots in America and Zimbardo wanted to know why prison guards behave brutally
• Did they have sadistic personalities or was it their social role, as a prison guard, that created their behaviour?
• Zimbardo et al (1973) converted a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison
• They advertised for students to play the roles of prisoners and guards for a two-week study; 21 male student volunteers who were tested and found to be 'emotionally stable' were selected as participants
• Participants were randomly assigned to either the role of prisoner or guard
• Prisoners and guards were encouraged to conform to their social roles both through instructions and the uniforms they wore

Uniforms

• Prisoners were given a loose smock to wear and a cap to cover their hair and were identified by an assigned number only 
• Guards were given their own khaki uniform, wooden club, handcuffs and mirror shades to make eye contact with prisoners' difficult
• Both these uniforms created a loss of the individual's personal identity (de-individuation), meaning they would be more likely to conform to their perceived social role

Findings

• Both guards and prisoners settled into their new roles very quickly
• The guards adopted their social role quickly, easily and with enthusiasm
• Within hours of beginning the experiment some guards began to harass prisoners and treat them harshly
• Within two days the prisoners rebelled; they ripped their uniforms and shouted and swore at guards
• The guards used fire extinguishers to retaliate, using 'divide-and-rule' tactics, playing the prisoners off against each other and completing headcounts, sometimes at night
• The prisoners soon adopted prisoner-like behaviour too e.g. they became subdued; they 'snitched' to the guards about other prisoners; they took prison rules seriously; they increasingly became docile and obedient
• As the prisoners became more submissive, the guards became more aggressive and assertive taking on their social roles easily
• The guards demanded ever greater obedience from the prisoners
• A colleague of Zimbardo's visited the study and was horrified at the abuse and exploitation she saw
• Zimbardo ended the experiment after six days instead of the 14 originally planned

Conclusions

• Social roles appeared to have a strong influence on individuals' behaviour in this study
• Power may corrupt those who wield it i.e. the guards over the prisoners
• Institutions may brutalise people and result in deindividuation (for both guards and prisoners)
• A prison exerts psychological damage upon those who work and are incarcerated there

Evaluation of the research

Strengths

• Prisoners and guards were randomly assigned to their roles, increasing the control Zimbardo had over the internal validity (whether the study actually measured what it intended to) of the study
• A major practical application is that the study meant practices were changed in US prisons to protect the vulnerable and make prisons safer, and a lot of this was due to the study

Weaknesses

• Individual differences and personality also determine the extent to which a person conforms to social roles
• The guards' behaviour differed between them: Not all guards were so harsh or cruel
• It has been said the participants were acting in a stereotypical way
•  For example, one guard said that he based his behaviour on a brutal character he had seen in a film
• There is a lack of realism and many argued that it did not have the realism of a real prison
• There were ethical issues with the study: The participants were subjected to psychological harm, which could have been long-lasting
• The right to withdraw was made difficult, perhaps because Zimbardo himself was playing the role of superintendent, which made it hard for at least one prisoner to withdraw from the study