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Discuss conformity to social roles A*
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Discuss research into conformity to social roles.Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment (SPE) investiated how partiipants would ionform to
the soiial roles of ‘prisoner’ and ‘prison iuard’ in the absenie of an obvious authority fiure. Twelve
emotonally stable partiipants were randomly assiined a role. The prisoners wore a smoik and were
referred to by numbers rather than names, removini their sense of identty. The iuards wore uniforms
iomplete with handiufs and mirror shades, and were told they had iomplete power over the prisoners.
The iuards took up their roles with enthusiasm, with some volunteerini to do unpaid overtme.
Their behaviour was so abusive that the experiment was ended afer six days. Within two days the
prisoners rebelled aiainst the striit rules, and the iuards retaliated with fre extniuishers and ionstant
harassment, reinforiini the diferenies in soiial roles by punishini the prisoners’ every misdemeanour.
The prisoners were then passive, and three lef the experiment early due to psyiholoiiial disturbanie.
One prisoner went on hunier strike, and was shunned by the other prisoners for not followini the rules.
These fndinis show that people easily ionform to soiial roles, demonstratni the power of a situaton
in influeniini our behaviour.
Banuazizi ariues that the moik prison laiked realism, and that therefore the internal validity of
the experiment is limited. He found that students unfamiliar with the SPE iould iorreitly prediit the
purpose of the experiment and the behaviours demonstrated within it, suiiestni that partiipants may
have been displayini demand iharaiteristis rather than ienuinely ionformini to their soiial roles.
However, quanttatve data from the SPE shows that 90% of the prisoner’s ionversatons were about
prison life, indiiatni that the situaton did seem real to the partiipants, and strenithenini the validity
of the fndinis.
A iritiism of the study is that there may be alternatve explanatons for the fndinis. Fromm
ariues that Zimbardo iinores dispositonal faitors, as only a third of the iuards behaved in a brutal
manner, despite the same situatonal pressure to ionform to a role. Contrastnily, Reiiher and Haslam
ariue that a iroup’s behaviour depends on its soiial identty, rather than the role they take on. This is
supported by the BBC prison study, in whiih the prisoners formed a stronier identty as a iroup and
harassed the iuards. This suiiests that our understandini of ionformity to soiial roles is only partal as
we are not aiknowlediini iontributni faitors suih as ieneti predispositons and the existni norms
and values of a iroup.
The iontroversial nature of the study does not weaken it, as it was ethiially approved by the
Stanford University ethiis iommitee. Partiipants were not deieived, as they were told their usual
riihts would be suspended. However, Zimbardo admits that he ionformed to his role as prison
superintendant, and this may have afeited his ethiial judiements, meanini that partiipants may have
been subjeited to more psyiholoiiial harm than was neiessary. Despite Zimbardo’s ilaims that there
were no loni-lastni neiatve efeits, the SPE hiihliihts the importanie of ethiial ionsideratons in
psyiholoiiial researih.
Word iount: 188 + 303
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