Summary A* AO1 and AO3 Notes on Conformity to Social Roles (2/6 on Social Influence spec)
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Course
Social Influence
Institution
AQA
These notes got me an A* as they are a combination of all the best AO1 and AO3 from the Hodder Education AQA textbook, Illuminate Publishing AQA textbook and my own class notes. They are worded to score highly on mark schemes as I have studied all past paper questions for Social Influence.
● Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo.
Social roles
- the parts individuals play as members of a social group which meets the expectation of
the situation.
- This involves identification as role changes between situations so it cannot be
internalisation
ZIMBARDO’s prison study
Test dispositional (individual) versus situational (environment) variables
Sample
- Volunteer sample from ad in newspaper
- 75 responded, 21 males were chosen (after psychological stability tests)
- Payed $15 a day
- Randomly assigned to guard or prisoner roles and given uniform to de-individualize
- Guards wore khaki uniform with sunglasses
- Zimbardo played prison superintendent
- Took place in basement of Stanford University psychology department
- Prisoners arrested by real police cars from their homes then de-humanised by being
stripped and deloused and given nylon caps to simulate shaved heads
- Study was supposed to last 2 weeks
Findings
- After 36 hours, 1 prisoner was released due to a mental breakdown
- In the first 5 days, 5 prisoners had to be released due to stress
- Initial prisoner rebellion was crushed and guards responded by taking their blankets
away and making them perform de humanising tasks e.g. cleaning toilet with bare hands
- Prisoners became depressed and submissive
- Study stopped after 6 days as Zimbardo realised extent of harm occurring
Conclusion
- Situational hypothesis favoured over dispositional as none of guard participants had ever
displayed aggressive characteristics before.
- But dispositional factors are still important as only ⅓ of guards behaved in brutal manner
Evaluation
+ Demand characteristics were unlikely despite them all knowing it was a study. Zimbardo
recorded and analysed prisoner conversation and 90% was about life in prison showing
how engrossed they were in the situation.
+ High internal validity due to control over variables e.g. selecting emotionally stable
participants/randomly assigning them to roles.
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