AO1 - Conformity to Social Roles

• Definition: Social roles are the parts that people play as members of various social groups, such as teachers and students. (1) These are accompanied by expectations that we, and others, have appropriate behaviour in each role. We internalise these expectations, therefore shaping our behaviour. (1)
• Zimbardo conducted research into conformity to social roles.
• Aim: To investigate how freely people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role playing exercise that re-created prison life
• Sample: 24 'emotionally stable' US male university student volunteers
• Procedure

  1. Volunteers randomly allocated to role of prisoner or guard

  2. Prisoners arrested at homes, taken to prison, searched, deloused and dressed in smock uniforms, referred to by numbers

  3. Guards given uniforms, baton and mirrored glasses, instructed to keep prisoners under control but not allowed to use physical violence
• Uniforms


  • Created a loss of personal identity, encouraging participants to conform to their social roles
• Mock prison

  Located in the basement of the Psychology department at Stanford university
• Zimbardo's role

  1. Took on the role of superintendent

  2. If a prisoner wanted to leave they had to go through a 'parole' process

  3. Prisoners placed in cells and had an established routine of shifts, meal times, etc.
• Prisoners rebelled by ripping off their numbers
• Guard response to rebellious behaviour:

  1. Taking away blankets

  2. Locking prisoners in cells
• Punishments escalated by:

  1. Humiliating prisoners

  2. Depriving prisoners of sleep by conducting head counts
• Prisoners showed identification by referring to each other and themselves by numbers
• Prisoner rapidly became:

  • Subdued
  • Depressed
  • Showed serious stress-related reactions
• 3 prisoners were released early due to showing signs of psychological disturbance
• The role play was called off after 6 days - it was intended to run for 2 weeks
• Conclusions:

  • Guards, prisoners and researchers conformed to their social roles
  • Social roles have extraordinary power over individuals, even making some of the most well-adjusted capable of extreme brutality towards one another