Conformity to Social Roles Flashcards
Define social roles
The parts individuals play as members of a social group which meet the expectations of that situation
What type of conformity does social roles involve and why?
Identification because they publicly and privately accept the behaviour and attitude exhibited
Why is it not as strong as internalisation?
Individuals adopt different social roles for different social situations. With each social roles adopted, behaviour changes to fit the social norms of that situation
Who studied social roles?
Zimbardo
What was the aim of the study?
The extent to which people would conform to the social roles of guards and prisoners in a role playing simulation of prisoners life
What was the method of this study?
21 male university students were allocated a role (10 as guards and 11 as prisoners). The prisoners were arrested by local police officers, fingerprinted and stripped. They study was set up at Stanford university and was planned to run for 2 weeks
What were the findings of this study?
Both the guards and prisoners settled quickly into their roles. The guards became more sadistics and the prisoners became more submissive. The study was stopped after 6 days because after 36 hours one prisoner was released due to fits and crying. Three more were released days later
What did the study conclude?
People conform to social roles even when the roles override a persons moral beliefs
What are two strengths of the study?
There is practical application and Zimbardo had control over variables. For example selection of participants. This reduces individual differences and increases internal validity
What are two limitations of the study?
There is ethical grounds and there may be individual differences as not all guards behaved brutally
