Zimbardo's experiment and evaluation

what were the aims of zimbardo's experiment ?

To see the extent to which people would conform to social role

research on the hypothesis that 'are prison guards violent because they have violent personalities or do their roles make them behave that way'

what were the procedures ?

- 21 male college students

- roles were randomly assigned, and Zimbardo was a prison superintendent

- carried out in the basement of stanford uni, which was converted into a mock prison

- participants were arrested, stripped, made to wear a loose fitting smock, and referred by a number, so were dehumanised

- guards wore uniform, reflective sunglasses and were referred to as Mr correctional officer

- guards were not allowed to physically harm the prisoners

what were the results?

after only a day the prisoners started to rebel against the guards

guards became increasingly sadistic as they humiliated the prisoners

prisoners became increasingly depressed and stressed

what was the conclusion?

supported the dispositional hypothesis that participants adopted behaviour according to the roles they are given as they are conforming to social roles

Explain the ethical issues in Zimbardo's study

- no protection from psychological harm as didnt accurately assess potential impact on ppt

- people started to feel like real prisoners as they felt stressed

- didn't give fully informed consent as participants didn't know the extent of the experiment- being arrested from house

- had the right to leave but had to ask for parole and were pressured to stay

- his experiment was a catalyst for ethical guidelines to be followed

Explain the issues with validity

• Doesnt fully support situational hypothesis

• Fails to explain why not all guards were similarly aggressive to prisoners

• not all wanted to impose authority but one cruel guard said he took inspiration from a film to be cruel

• shows individ differences play a role as only some conformed to social roles

• Lacks internal validity

Explain the issues with reliability

- not creliable as cresults aren't replicable

- 2002 Reicher and Haslam replicated his study and found prisoners took charge and worked together to create a more egalitarian set of relations ( due to individual differences as guards weren't strong enough to take on their role )

- shows us that some people have stronger morals compared to others = less conformity to social roles

- explains that whether we conform to a role depends on the extent to which we identify with that role instead of blindy following instructions