ZIMBARDO

• Referred to as HANEY ET AL
• Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment


  A study that simulated a prison environment to explore how role-playing affects behavior, with 24 students playing prisoner and guard roles
• Prisoners in Zimbardo's Experiment


  Became depressed, anxious, and lost their sense of identity
• Guards in Zimbardo's Experiment


  Became authoritarian, cruel, and sadistic, with some developing a "super" ego
• aim of SPE

  To investigate how people conform to social roles and he wanted to explore whether the brutality reported in guards was due to personalities or the influence of the social environment
• Stanford Prison Experiment Termination


  The experiment was terminated after 6 days due to extreme behaviors, psychological distress, and ethics concerns
• Stanford Prison Experiment Duration


  The experiment was terminated after 6 days, from August 14 to August 20, 1971
• Stanford Prison Experiment Participant Selection


  Participants were selected from Stanford University students, 18-20 years old, with normal personalities and average to above-average intelligence, through random assignment as either prisoners or guards
• Stanford Prison Experiment Results


  The experiment demonstrated the power of the situation, deindividuation, and the potential for abusive behavior when individuals are given authority, resulting in harm to both prisoners and guards
• Stanford Prison Experiment Ethical Concerns


  The experiment raised concerns about participant protection, ethics of using vulnerable individuals, informed consent, uncontrolled situational factors, potential for harm, and breaches of human rights
• What was the aim of Zimbardo's study?

  To explore conformity to social roles
• What was the method used in Zimbardo's study?

  24 male college students were selected
• Where was the mock prison set up for the study?

  Stanford University basement
• How were the roles of guards and prisoners assigned?

  Roles were assigned to emphasize social roles
• How were the prisoners arrested for the study?

  By real police at their homes
• What could prisoners do during the study?

  Resign at any time
• What were the findings regarding the guards and prisoners?

  Guards became brutal; prisoners were depressed
• On which day was the study stopped?

  Day 6
• What happened to the prisoners during the study?

  Some were removed due to distress
• What did one prisoner do in protest?

  Went on hunger strike
• What conclusion did Zimbardo draw from the simulation?

  Situation reshaped behavior significantly
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Zimbardo's study?

  Strengths:

  • Control over participant selection
  • Random assignment to roles

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Lack of realism in role-playing
  • Ethical issues due to dual roles
• How did Zimbardo control for individual differences in his study?

  By selecting emotionally stable participants
• What did Banazizi and Mohavedi argue about the study's realism?

  Participants were merely play-acting roles
• What stereotype did participants base their roles on?

  How prisoners and guards are supposed to behave
• What did Zimbardo point to as evidence of the study's realism?

  90% of prisoners' conversations were about prison life
• What did Reicher accuse Zimbardo of exaggerating?

  The power of the situation to influence behavior
• What did Reicher's findings suggest about the guards' behavior?

  Only a minority behaved brutally
• What was the outcome of the BBC prison study?

  Prisoners took control and harassed guards
• What theory did Reicher and Haslam use to explain their findings?

  Social identity theory (SIT)
• Why did the guards fail in the BBC prison study?

  They lacked a shared social identity
• What ethical issue arose from Zimbardo's dual roles?

  He prioritized prison management over participant welfare
• What major event highlighted the power of social roles in behavior?

  Abuses at Abu Ghraib prison
• What are the ethical limitations of the Stanford prison study?

  • Dual roles of Zimbardo compromised ethics
  • Psychological harm to participants
  • Lack of informed consent
• What did Zimbardo's study reveal about conformity?

  Participants conformed to their assigned roles
• Why is the study's internal validity considered high?

  Control over variables increased confidence in findings
• How did Zimbardo's findings compare to those of Reicher and Haslam?

  Zimbardo's findings were less reliable