| Aim of Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment | whether people would conform to social roles when placed in a mock prison environment. he wanted to see if the situation lead to the behaviour. |
| Procedure of Zimbardo's experiment | - 24 Male University Students volunteered after seeing a newspaper advertisement
- participants were picked after testing their mental and physical stability
- each student was paid 15 dollars and randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard.
- the prisioners were arrested at their homes by real police, they were given a smock to wear and chained.
- guards were given reflective glasses and uniform and told not to use physical violence
- experiment was set to run for 2 weeks |
| Findings of Zimbardo's experiment | - Prisoners and guards were quick to identify to their social roles
- Prisoners rebelled a few days in and the guards threatened them in return - in a rather a sadistic way.
- Experiment was shut down after six days due to breaking of ethical guidelines |
| Conclusion of Stanford Prison Experiment | Zimbardo concluded that people are quick to conform to their social roles, even if it goes against their moral principles. Situational factors were largely responsible. |
| DISADVANTAGES of stanford prison experiment | - individualistic differences also contributed to the extent to which people conform. some of the guards were actually sympathetic to the prisoners and offered support. situational factors are not the only factor contributing to conformity
- broke several ethical guidelines, deception and protection from harm. |
