Conformity to social roles

• What is a social role?

  A set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position or status in society
• How do social roles influence individual behavior?


  They guide how people act and interact
• What roles were assigned to participants in Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment?

  Guards and prisoners
• What was the environment of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

  A basement converted into a prison environment
• How were participants assigned their roles in the Stanford Prison Experiment?

  They were randomly assigned to either guard or prisoner roles
• How did guards establish authority in the Stanford Prison Experiment?


  Guards wore uniforms to establish authority
• What behavioural changes were observed in guards during the Stanford Prison Experiment?

  They became increasingly authoritarian and aggressive
• What does the Stanford Prison Experiment illustrate about social roles?

  Social roles can significantly alter behavior
• What psychological harm was inflicted on prisoners during the Stanford Prison Experiment?

  Causing passivity and depressive symptoms
• What was a significant ethical breach in the Stanford Prison Experiment?

  Lack of intervention despite excessive behavior
• What dynamics did the Stanford Prison Experiment highlight regarding power and dehumanization?

  Guards became authoritarian, prisoners became passive
• Describe Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1973).

  • Zimbardo et al. set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University.
  • They selected 21 men (student volunteers) who tested as 'emotionally stable'.
• What groups were the students in Zimbardo's experiment put into?

  • The students were randomly assigned to play the role of prison guard or prisoner.
  • Prisoners and guards were encouraged to conform to social roles both through the uniforms they wore and also instructions about their behaviour.
• What uniforms were the prisoners given in Zimbardo's experiment?

  • They were given a loose smock to wear and a cap to cover their hair.
  • They were also identified by number (their names were never used).
• What uniforms were the prison guards given in Zimbardo's experiment?

  They were given guard uniform, a wooden club, handcuffs and mirror shades.
• Why did the uniforms given to the prisoners and guards mean they were more likely to conform to their given social role?

  The uniform created a loss of personal identity (de-individualisation).
• What happened in the first few days of Zimbardo's experiment?

  • The guards took up their roles with enthusiasm, treating the prisoners harshly.
  • Within two days, the prisoners rebelled, ripping off their uniforms, shouting and swearing at the guards who retaliated with fire extinguishers.
• In what way did the prison guards harass the prisoners in Zimbardo's experiment?

  • The guards created a 'divide and rule' tactic, playing the prisoners off against each other.
  • They constantly reminded the prisoners of how powerless their role was.
  • They frequently conducted headcounts, sometimes at night, where the prisoners would stand in line and call out their numbers.
• How did the prison guards in Zimbardo's experiment highlight the differences in social roles?

  They created many opportunities to enforce the rules and administer punishments.
• What happened to the prisoners after the rebellion in Zimbardo's experiment?

  • They became subdued, depressed and anxious.
  • One was released because he showed symptoms of psychological disturbance.
  • Two more were released on the fourth day
  • One prisoner went on a hunger strike and the guards tried to force-feed him and then punished him by putting him in 'the hole', a tiny dark closet.
• How early did Zimbardo end his experiment and why?

  He ended the experiment after 6 days instead of 14 because of the impacts on the prisoners mental health.
• What happened as the prison guards identified more closely with their roles in Zimbardo's experiment?

  Their behaviour became more brutal and aggressive, with some appearing to enjoy the power they had over the prisoners.
• What conclusions can be gathered from Zimbardo's experiment, related to social roles?

  • Social roles appear to have a strong influence on an individuals behaviour. For example, the guards became brutal and the prisoners because submissive.
  • The roles were easily taken on by all participants, even the volunteers who came in to perform specific functions (such as the prison chaplain) found themselves behaving as if they were in a prison instead of a psychology study.
• What are the three evaluative points for Zimbardo's experiment?

  Control, lack of realism, and the exaggeration of the power of roles.
• Explain how a strength of the SPE is that Zimbardo and his colleagues had control over key variables.

  • Only emotionally stable individuals were chosen and randomly assigned the roles of guard or prisoner, ruling out individual personality differences as an explanation of the findings.
  • If the guards and prisoners behaved very differently, but were in those roles by chance, then their behaviour must have been due to the role itself.
• How can the level of control that Zimbardo had over variables make his study valid?

  The internal validity of the study was increased, meaning we can be much more confident in drawing conclusions about the influence of roles on conformity.
• Explain how lack of realism is a limitation of Zimbardo's experiment.

  • The SPE lacked the realism of a true prison.
  • Other psychologists argues that the participants were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role.
  • Participants' performances were based on their stereotypes of how prisoners and guards are supposed to behave. (One guard claimed he had based his role on a brutal character from the film 'Cool Hand Luke')
  • This also explained why the prisoners rioted - they thought that was what real prisoners did.
• How could the lack of realism in Zimbardo's study make it invalid?


  The findings of the SPE tell us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisons.
• Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles, how is this a limitation of the SPE?

  Only one-third of the guards actually behaved in a brutal way. Another third tried to apply the rules fairly. The rest actively tried to help and support the prisoners. They did this by offering them cigarettes and reinstating privileges. Most of the guards were able to resist situational pressures to conform to a brutal role.
• How could the exaggeration of the power of roles in Zimbardo's experiment suggest it is invalid?

  It suggested that Zimbardo overstated his view that the participants were conforming to social roles and minimised the influence on dispositional factors like personality.