QUIZ

• What is the definition of conformity?

• What are the 3 types of conformity?

• What are 2 explanations of conformity?

• What percentage of ppt’s conformed in the majority of the clinical trials in Asch’s

study?

• Name 3 evaluation points for Asch’s study

• What is one study (other than Asch) into conformity?

STATUS: PERRIN & SPENCER (1980)

• Youths on probation as the participants and probation officers as confederates.

• The results showed 29% of participants conformed at least once – a result comparable to Asch’s 1956 study

GROUP SIZE: CAMPBELL & FAIREY (1989)

• Group size has a different effect depending on the type of judgement being made and the motivation of the individual

• If the motivation is to fit in = a larger group size is required to change behaviour

• If the motivation is to be correct = just 1 or 2 others is sufficient to change behaviour

TASK DIFFICULTY: LUCAS ET AL (2006)

• Difficulty of task effected ppt’s low in ‘self – efficacy’

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN CONFORMITY?

• Smith and Bond (2006) conducted a meta-analysis of Asch-type studies across different cultures

• Average of 25% conformity rates across individualist cultures

• 37% in collectivist cultures

1.

2.

CONFORMITY TO SOCIAL ROLES

• INTRODUCTION TO ZIMBARDO

• EVALUATION OF THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT

• INTRODUCTION TO THE BBC PRISON STUDY (2006)

• APPLICATION OF RESULTS FROM PRISON STUDIES

SOCIAL ROLES

• The part people play as members of a social group. With each social

role you adopt, your behavior changes to fit the expectations

both you and others have of that role.

CONFORMING TO SOCIAL ROLES

• With each social role you adopt, your behavior changes to fit the expectations both you and others have of that role

• How many social roles have you played in the last year?

ATTICA PRISON, NEW YORK: 1971

• 2,200 inmates initiated a riot based upon political rights and better living conditions in the prison

• 43 people died in the uprising• 10 correctional officers• 33 inmates

ZIMBARDO (1971)

• Following the news of the prison riot, Philip Zimbardo was interested in finding out whether ‘normal’ people would conform to prison roles.

ZIMBARDO (1971)

• The Stanford Prison Experiment

• Is aggression in prison as a result of Situational Factors or Dispositional factors?

ZIMBARDO (1971)

Zimardo placed an ad in the local newspaper asking for volunteers for his prison study.

All applicants were screened for any psychological disorders

ZIMBARDO (1971)• After screening, 21 male college students were randomly assigned to either

prisoner or guard.

• 11 guards• 10 prisoners

• The experiment was to last for 14 days, the prisoners would spend 24 hours a day inside the prison

ZIMBARDO (1971)

• Prisoners were told to “maintain order within the prison”

• They were not permitted to use any physical violence

• What would you expect to occur during those 2 weeks?

ZIMBARDO (1971)

• Findings…

• Violence in the prison was so severe, the experiment had to be prematurely terminated after just 6 days.

• Even when unaware of being watched, ppt’s still conformed to their prison roles of prisoner or guard

• Does Zimbardo’s findings support a dispositional or situational view on prison violence?

EVALUATION OF ZIMBARDO’S STUDY (1971)

BBC PRISON STUDY (REICHER & HASLAM, 2001)

• 15 male participants were randomly assigned to either guard or prisoner,

• 5 Guards• 10 Prisoners

BBC PRISON STUDY (2001)

• Do you think the results from Zimbardo’s original study will reflect in the BBC prison study?

• Why might differences occur?

BBC PRISON STUDY (2001)

• Results:

• The prisoners increasingly identified as a group and worked collectively to challenge guards’ authority.

• The guards failed to conform to their role and failed to impose their authority.

• The only elements of aggression in this study came from the prisoners.

IMPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH INTO CONFORMITY TO SOCIAL ROLES…

Zimbardo believed that the guard’s drift into sadistic behaviour was an automatic consequence of them embracing their roles, this stopped them from seeing that their behaviour was wrong

Reicher & Haslam believe that behaviour is dependent on the norms and values associated with their specific social identity.

IMPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH INTO CONFORMITY TO SOCIAL ROLES…

• Conformity to social roles is not automatic…

• There was little conformity in the BBC study

• There were some ‘nice’ guards in Zimbardo’s experiment

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH INTO CONFORMITY TO SOCIAL ROLES

• Demand characteristics?

• Ethics?

• Internal Validity?

• Real – world application

ABU GHRAIB

• Prison in Iraq, famous for the amount of human rights violations against detainees were committed

ZIMBARDO

• Zimbardo is a situationist

• He believes the individual should not be held accountable for their actions when in settings which elicit authoritative roles

EXAM PREP