Zimbardo (1973)

• The study focuses on social identity (i.e. the ways in which group membership influences behaviour)

  • e.g. your social roles as a teacher or student etc
• Aims:

  • Zimbardo wanted to investigate how readily people would conform to social roles of guard and prisoner in a role-play expertise that stimulated prison life
  • There had been many prison riots in America and Zimbardo wanted to know why prison guards behaved brutally
  • To investigate ‘why good people do bad things’
• Procedure:

  • converted the basement of Stanford Uni into mock prison
  • advertised for students to play the roles for 2 week study
  • 21 males volunteered - all PPs emotionally stable
  • PPs were randomly assigned to the role of either prisoner or guard
  • Prisoners and guards were encouraged to conform to their social roles through instructions and uniforms
• Uniforms - Prisoners:

  • prisoners were given a lose smock to wear and cap to cover their hair
  • they were identified by only a number
• Uniforms - Guards:

  • Prison guards were given their own khaki uniform, wooden club and handcuffs
  • They were also given mirror shades to make eye contact hard
• Uniform:

  • These uniforms created a loss of the individual's personal identity (de-individuation), meaning they would be more likely to conform to their perceived social role
• Findings 1:

  • guards adapted to their roles quickly and easily
  • within hours some guards began to treat prisoners badly
  • within two days the prisoners rebelled ( they ripped uniforms and shouted/swore at guards)
  • Guards retaliated with fire extinguishers and the ’divide and conquer tactics
  • Guards also played prisoners against each other
• Findings 2:

  • The prisoners soon became subdued and snitched to guards (took rules seriously)
  • This led to the guards being more assertive and agressive
  • A colleague of Zimbardo visited and was horrified a the abuse and exploitation

  ————> ENDED AFTER 6 DAYS
• Conclusions:

  • Social rules appeared to have a strong influence on individuals behaviour in this study
  • Power may corrupt those who have it
  • A prison exerts psychological damage on those who work there
• Evaluation - Strength:

  • Real Life Application - changed the way US prisons are run - to improve psychological health
• Evaluation - Strength:

  Internal validity - randomly assigned roles increasing the control Zimbardo had
• Evaluation - Weakness:

  Lacks ecological validity - suffered from demand characteristics as PPs knew it was an experiment - they were also acting so behaviour isn’t real
• Evaluation - Weakness:

  Lacks Population Vlaidity = PPs were only American male undergraduates so may be subject to gender bias and can’t be generalised to other cultures

  E.G. Collectivist cultures (China or Japan) may conform more due to their societal norms rather than individualist cultures who may conform less
• Evaluation - Weakness:

  Ethical issues

  • Zimbardo didn’t know what was going to happen in the experiment so PPs couldn’t give informed consent
  • PPs weren’t protected from stress, anxiety or embarrassment so they were subject to psychological harm (e.g. one prisoner was released due to distress and uncontrollable crying)
• Evaluation - Weakness:

  Guards behaviour differed between them (not all were harsh and cruel)
• Evaluation - Weakness:

  PPs were acting stereotypically and that may have bias