Zimbardo

• Stanford prison experiment (SPE)


  Zimbardo et al. (1973) set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University. They selected 21 men who tested as 'emotionally stable. The students were randomly assigned to play the role of prison guard or prisoner.
• De-Individuation


  The uniforms created a loss of personal identity, and meant they would be more likely to conform to the perceived social role.
• Guards

  • Took up their roles with enthusiasm, treating the prisoners harshly
• Prisoner rebellion


  1. Prisoners rebelled

  2. Guards retaliated with fire extinguishers
• Guards

  • Used 'divide-and-rule' tactics by playing the prisoners off against each other
  • Harassed the prisoners constantly
  • Conducted frequent headcounts, sometimes at night,
  • Highlighted the differences in social roles by creating opportunities to enforce the rules and administer punishments
• Prisoner response after rebellion

  1. Prisoners became depressed

  2. some prisoner released due to psychological disturbance

  4. One prisoner went on a hunger strike

  5. Guards tried to force-feed him and then punished him by putting him in 'the hole',
• Guards

  • Identified more and more closely with their role
  • Behaviour became increasingly brutal and aggressive, with some of them appearing to enjoy the power they had over the prisoners
• Zimbardo ended the study after six days
• Even volunteers who came in to perform specific functions found themselves behaving as if they were in a prison
• Strength of the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)

  • Zimbardo and his colleagues had control over key variables
  • Selection of participants - emotionally-stable individuals were chosen and randomly assigned to the roles of guard and prisoner - high internal validity
• Mcdermott sed that prisoners behaved as tho it was real cuz 90% of convos were about prison life and one sed how he generally believed prison was real
• Limitation of the SPE

  • Lack of realism - it did not have the realism of a true prison
  • Participants were merely play-acting rather than genuinely conforming to a role
  • Participants' performances were based on their stereotypes e.g one ps sed he based his characte on guy from movie
• The findings of the SPE tell us little about conformity to social roles in actual prisons
• Another limitation of the SPE


  • Zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of social roles to influence behaviour
  • Only one-third of the guards behaved in a brutal manner, another third tried to apply the rules fairly, and the rest actively tried to help and support the prisoners