A01

• Define social roles

  The behaviours expected of an individual who occupies a given social position
• Outline what is meant by conformity to social roles

  When an individual adopts a certain behaviour and belief when in a particular social situation, but stop when they are out of that situation
• State the year Zimbardo conducted the Stanford Prison experiment

  1973
• State the sample used in Zimbardo's study

  24 American, male undergraduate students
• Describe the procedure of Zimbardo's study

  - All participants were psychological and physically screened to ensure they were fit to partake in the experiment

  - Participants were randomly assigned either the role of 'prisoner' or 'guard'

  - 'Prisoners' were arrested at home and were given uniform and assigned ID numbers

  - 'Guards' were given uniform, mirrored glasses and wooden clubs and told they had complete power over prisoners
• Describe how the prison guards showed conformity to their roles

  Guards abused and harassed prisoners - frequent headcounts in middle of night, forcing prisoners to clean toilets with their bare hands, punishing for smallest misdemeanour
• Describe how prisoners showed conformity to their roles

  Prisoners wholly accepted the harsh treatment and became passive and subdued - five participants had to be withdrawn early for mental distress
• What was the planned length of the experiment? After how many days was the experiment stopped?

  14 days; stopped after just 6 days
• Describe the overall conclusion from the findings of Zimbardo's study

  Demonstrate the power of social roles on people's behaviour - both guards and prisoners conformed to roles even when went against moral principles
• Give an example of a social role other than prisoner or guard

  Teacher/student/policeman