Conformity to social roles

• Explain what is meant by conformity to social roles.


  Conformity to social roles refers to when an individual changes their behaviour to suit the role they have been given in society.

  Conformity to social roles typically takes place due to deindividuation and situational factors.
• Explain what is meant by conformity to social roles.


  Deindividuation refers to when an individual loses their sense of Individual identity which makes them more likely to conform to the role they have been given and display behaviours that may have otherwise gone against their morals.
• Explain what is meant by conformity to social roles.


  Situational factors are variables in the environment that can trigger this deindividuation and conformity to social roles e.g providing someone with a uniform for a specific role can influence them to behave in a way that is expected.
• Outline Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles.


  Zimbardo had 24 well-adjusted American male volunteers take part in a two-week prison simulation study in the basement of Stanford University.

  They were randomly allocated to the role of a prison guard or prisoner before prisoners were arrested outside their homes by the local police.
• Outline Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles.


  They were deindividuated by giving prisoners numbers and instructing everyone to only refer to them by their number. They also gave the guards uniforms and the prisoners smocks to further increase situational factors and deindividuation.

  Zimbardo played the role of the prison warden where he, and his team of researchers, observed the participants' behaviour to assess whether they would conform to their social roles of prison guard or prisoner.
• Outline Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles.


  Zimbardo found that the prisoners conformed to their role by rebelling against the guards. The prison guards also conformed to their role by stopping the rebellion (using fire extinguishers).

  The guards conformed to their authoritative role to such an extent that they attempted to force feed prisoners on hunger strikes and locked them in closets similar to solitary confinement. This resulted in some of the prisoners experiencing mental breakdowns to the point where the study had to be stopped after 6 days.
• Evaluate Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles: high level of control. 


  For example, emotionally stable individuals were chosen to take part and then randomly allocated to the roles of either a prisoner or prison guard. This is a strength because it enabled Zimbardo to minimise participant variables that could have impacted the findings (e.g. the proposal that perhaps prison guards behaved in the way that they did because they were already very sadistic/gain pleasure from harming others).
• Evaluate Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles: exaggerating the power of conformity to social roles. 


  This is because only a third of the guards behaved in a brutal manner while the rest were applying the rules fairly. Zimbardo used a volunteer sample who are more likely to display demand characteristics i.e. it is possible that participants guessed the aims and acted out the role they thought Zimbardo wanted them to play. This is a limitation because it suggests that Zimbardo's conclusion that people readily conform to social roles may be overstated.
• Evaluate Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles: unethical. 


  Some of the prisoner participants experienced mental breakdowns. The prisoner participants also did not consent to being arrested by their local police at their homes. This is a limitation because it meant the research failed to protect participants from harm and public embarrassment, as well as failed to gain informed consent.
• Evaluate Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles: unethical counter


  It could be argued whether the distress caused to the participants could have been anticipated and prevented by Zimbardo. It is also argued that the public arrest of the prisoner participants was necessary to make the prison-life simulation as realistic as possible.
• Evaluate Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles: positive applications in society, particular prisons.

  For example, the clear distress felt by the prisoner participants helped lead to the reform of prisons whereby focus is increasingly placed upon rehabilitation rather than punishment. This is a strength because such prison reforms have helped reduce recidivism rates (the rate of reoffending).