Zimbardo - Stanford County Prison

What are social roles?

“A socially defined pattern of behaviour that is expected of persons who occupy a certain social position or belong to a particular social category”

What are some examples of social roles?

Doctor, teacher, police officer, politician, student, artist, prisoner, correctional officer etc

What is identification?

The process of individuals adopting the behaviour of a group that they value and want to belong to. These roles provide a social identity, an individual’s sense of who they are

What did the Stanford Prison Experiment aim to do?

To understand the psychological impact of situational forces by observing how typical, healthy individuals would conform to assigned social roles of guards (oppressive) and prisoners (submissive)

What were Zimbardo’s original ideas?

Zimbardo was concerned about the intense aggression within the US prison system and thought the reason for aggression was not dispositional (the personality of guards and prisoners) but situational, the environment of the prison itself and conformity to the social roles created by the prison environment. He designed the Stanford Prison Experiment to explore conformity to social roles in a simulated prison environment

Zimbardo (1971) Procedure:

An observational study of 24 male students from the US who volunteered to participate in a 7 to 14 day study, receiving $15 a day. After psychological assessments to ensure they were stable and healthy, participants were randomly assigned to either the role of a prisoner or a guard

How were the prisoners treated?

Prisoners experienced arrests at home, were deloused, given prison uniforms and ID numbers, and three prisoners were placed in each small mock prison cell. They were given a list of rules to follow and limited rights, such as three meals a day, supervised toilet trips and visits

How were the guards treated?

Guards were given uniforms, clubs, whistles and reflective sunglasses to establish authority and were instructed to manage the prison without harming the prisoners. In teams of three, the guards worked 8 hour shifts, after which they were allowed to leave the site

How was Zimbardo involved in the study?

Zimbardo oversaw the experiment in the roles of the chief prison superintendent and lead investigator

What were the findings of the SPE?

Participants quickly lost their personal identities and adapted to their social roles

Prisoners, after an initial failed attempt at resistance, showed signs of stress, anxiety, passivity and helplessness; some were released early after emotional breakdowns

Guards, empowered by their uniforms and anonymity provided by sunglasses, displayed sadistic aggression and domineering behaviour

The study was halted after just six days due to the ethical concerns raised by the intense reactions

What did Zimbardo’s findings suggest?

Suggests situational factors, rather than individual personality traits (dispositional factors), can drive behaviour, as people who were considered ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’ before the experiment engaged in abusive or submissive behaviours as a result of their assigned social roles and the prison environment

AO3 - The SPE initial set up was well controlled…

Zimbardo carefully selected participants using psychological screening to ensure they were healthy, psychologically stable and without criminal records. Additionally, the roles of guards and prisoners were randomly allocated. This control supports the argument that the behaviours shown in the SPE resulted from the social roles and the prison environment rather than individual dispositions

AO3 - Real world application…

Zimbardo’s SPE insights into how social roles can influence behaviour can help explain incidents of cruelty and abuse in institutional settings. Eg the guards in Abu Ghraib, like those in the SPE, performed highly abusive behaviours. Recognising the impact of situational factors on human behaviour has led to the practical application of increased training in military and law enforcement settings to prevent abuse

AO3 - Reicher and Haslam

Reicher and Haslam’s replication of the SPE for the BBC challenged Zimbardo’s conclusions by demonstrating that participants do not inevitably conform to their assigned roles of guards or prisoners. Unlike Zimbardo’s study, where guards became increasingly cruel, they found that participants resisted behaviours that conflicted with their identities. This studies findings and the fact that only a third of guards in the original SPE demonstrated sadistic behaviour suggests social roles have a limited influence, and individuals have agency and moral choice in their actions

AO3 - SPE was affected by experimenter bias

Zimbardo took on a dual role as the principal investigator and prison superintendent. Zimbardo’s presence could influence the participants behaviour to fit the expected outcomes of the study. Demand characteristics are likely to have occurred. Recent reviews of the SPE recordings have provided evidence that the guards were trained to be aggressive, casting serious doubt about the validity of the observed behaviours and conclusions

AO3 - Participants experienced significant psychological harm..

Zimbardo’s decision to continue the experiment despite signs of emotional breakdown and the extreme reactions of both guards and prisoners demonstrates the need for strict ethical controls in psychological experiments, especially those that may put participants in distressing situations