Conformity to Social Roles (Zimbardo)

• :) high control over extraneous variables

  > carried out in an artificial environment

  > for example, the way in which participants were selected - psychologically tested and randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard

  > allowed Zimbardo to measure conformity to social roles without it being affected by individual differences

  > increases internal validity
• :( exaggerated findings

  > only one third of the guards behaved in a brutal manner - another third tried to apply the rules fairly, and the other third actively tried to help and support the prisoners

  > despite the high level of control, Zimbardo may have overstated the power of social roles and minimised other factors, such as personality
• :( gender bias

  > male only sample (androcentric)

  > difficult to generalise findings to women - the role of guard was violent, so it could be argued that females would conform less due to stereotypically being caring

  > reduces external validity

  discussion - Zimbardo was interested in brutality within American prison systems, where the majority of guards were male
• :( ethical issues

  > lack of informed consent - prisoners did not consent to being arrested at home and were only told the experiment was investigating prison life

  > not protected from harm - some showed signs of psychological disturbance

  > reduces credibility of Zimbardo's research

  discussion - extensive debriefing sessions for several years after
• :( prone to demand characteristics

  > Zimbardo took on the role of prison superintendent, which could have influenced how the participants acted

  > they may have conformed because they believed Zimbardo wanted them to do it, rather than because they were actually conforming

  > participants were also paid

  > lowering the internal validity