Conformity to social roles

• Zimbardo procedure

  The study proceeded as follows:

  • 24 male students were recruited via volunteer/self-selected sampling
  • The participants were tested for psychiatric vulnerabilities and were deemed 'emotionally stable'
  • The participants were randomly assigned to either the role of prisoner or guard
  • The 'prisoners' were 'arrested' in the early hours of the morning at their homes and taken off to the 'prison' (they were unaware that this was going to happen)
  • Prisoners and guards were encouraged to conform to their social roles which was reinforced by the uniforms which were as follows:
  • the guards wore a standard khaki uniform with mirrored shades and each of them carried a nightstick, keys and handcuffs
  • the prisoners wore a shapeless smock with a sock cap covering their heads and no shoes
• Zimbardo 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
  • Two days into the experiment the prisoners rebelled by ripping their uniforms and shouting and swearing at guards
  • The guards employed an array of tactics to bring the prisoners into line:
  • they used fire extinguishersto bring the prisoners toorder
  • they used psychological warfare, harnessing the 'divide-and-rule' principle by playing prisoners off against each other
• Zimbardo conclusion

  • Social roles exert a strong influence on individual identity
  • Power corrupts those who wield it, particularly if environmental factors legitimise this corruption of power
  • Harsh institutions brutalisepeople and result in deindividuation (for both guards and prisoners)
  • A prison exerts psychologicaldamage upon both those who work there and those who are incarcerated there
• Zimbardo evaluation strength

  • A good degree of control was exerted over the procedure:
  • The 'vetting' of participants to factor out prior psychiatric conditions
  • The random allocation to role
  • both of the above measures ensured that individual differences did not confound the results e.g. it was pure chance who ended up as prisoner or guard 
  • The study may have genuine mundane realism (which is rare for an experiment)
  • 90% of the prisoners’ private conversations revolved around prison life 
  • The guards talked about ‘problem prisoners,’ or other prison topics on their breaks; they never discussed home life or other topics
• What aspect regarding informed consent was not fully covered in the Zimbardo study?

  All aspects of the procedure
• What made the right to withdraw difficult for participants in the Zimbardo study?

  The routines and mechanisms of the prison
• Which ethical consideration was almost absent in the Zimbardo study?

  Protection from harm
• How did Zimbardo contribute to the lack of protection from harm in the study?

  He encouraged the guards to be cruel
• What type of harm did the prisoners suffer in the Zimbardo study?

  Physically and psychologically
• What potential long-term psychological impact might the guards have experienced after the Zimbardo study?

  Knowledge of their potential for brutality
• What potential long-term psychological impact might the prisoners have experienced after the Zimbardo study?

  PTSD
• What is meant by 'demand characteristics' in the context of the Zimbardo study?

  Participants acting according to what they guessed
• In the Zimbardo study, what might a guard think due to demand characteristics?


  'I am a guard therefore I must behave brutally'
• How did demand characteristics potentially impact the validity of the Zimbardo study's findings?

  Lowers the validity of the findings
• What demonstrated the impact of demand characteristics on the Zimbardo study?

  Prisoner snapped out of mental breakdown
• Besides physical harm, what psychological distress did prisoners experience in the Zimbardo study?

  Suffering in their assigned role
• How did the Zimbardo prison environment undermine the right to withdraw?


  The prison routines made withdrawal difficult
• Zimbardo limitation

  • Protection from harm was almost absent:
  • Zimbardo activelyencouraged the guards to be cruel and oppressive prior to the start of the study
  • the prisoners suffered in their role, both physically and psychologically
  • the guards had to live with the knowledge of their potential for brutality after the study was over and the prisoners may have suffered PTSD as a result of their experience