The concept of social roles and their influence on behaviour

Social roles are the patterns of behaviour and responsibilities tied to specific positions individuals hold within society. These roles guide how people act, often encouraging conformity as individuals adapt to meet societal expectations associated with their positions.

Characteristics of social roles

• Multiple positions - Individuals often hold several roles at once, such as being a student, sibling, or employee simultaneously.
• Societal expectations - Each role comes with a set of behaviours expected by society, for example, a parent is anticipated to care for and nurture their child.
• Internalisation of norms - When taking on a role, individuals absorb these expectations, allowing them to shape personal actions and decisions.
• Influence on identity - Adopting a role can affect how individuals see themselves, sometimes overriding personal beliefs or characteristics to align with societal norms.

Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1973)

Method

• Participants - Male university students were recruited and randomly assigned roles as either guards or prisoners.
• Setup - Conducted in a mock prison, prisoners were unexpectedly 'arrested', given uniforms, and referred to by numbers, while guards wore uniforms and mirrored sunglasses to project authority.
• Observation - Behaviours were closely monitored to evaluate how participants adapted to their assigned roles.

Results

• Early interactions - Guards initially attempted to establish dominance, while prisoners resisted by forming a united group.
• Behavioural shift - Over time, prisoners became more submissive and compliant, whereas guards developed harsher methods of control.
• Premature end - The experiment was stopped early due to extreme distress experienced by some prisoners.

Conclusions

• Rapid role adoption - Both guards and prisoners quickly embraced their roles, with guards showing aggression and prisoners displaying passivity.
• Situational impact - The study indicates that social roles can strongly influence behaviour, transforming otherwise balanced individuals into acting contrary to their typical nature.

Evaluation

• Strengths - High control over variables due to the controlled setting of the observation.
• Limitations - The artificial environment limits the applicability of findings to real-world scenarios.
• Ethical issues - Significant distress among participants raises concerns about the morality of the study.
• Observer bias - Zimbardo, as the prison supervisor, later admitted to becoming overly involved, potentially skewing the results.
• Incomplete conformity - Not all participants fully conformed to their roles, suggesting individual differences also play a role in behaviour.

Orlando's study on role conformity in a hospital setting (1973)

Method

• Participants - 29 hospital staff members volunteered to act as 'patients' in a mock psychiatric ward for 3 days, while 22 others maintained their regular roles.
• Setup - The mock patients were confined to the ward, and their interactions and behaviours were observed.

Results

• Behavioural adaptation - The 'patients' soon began exhibiting behaviours similar to actual psychiatric patients, including signs of depression and withdrawal.
• Difficulty distinguishing - It became challenging to differentiate between mock and real patients due to their conformity to the patient role.
• Escape attempts - Several participants tried to escape, indicating significant discomfort in the role.
• Emotional effects - Post-study, participants reported feelings of frustration, anxiety, and a loss of identity, feeling their emotions were disregarded.

Conclusions

• Swift conformity - Individuals adapted quickly to the patient role, mirroring the behaviours and emotional states of real patients.
• Practical insight - Offers valuable understanding of the experiences of actual hospital patients, highlighting the influence of assigned roles.

Evaluation

• Strengths - Provides meaningful insights into patient experiences, contributing to improved staff-patient interactions in hospitals.
• Limitations - The artificial setting restricts how far results can be generalised to real psychiatric wards.
• Ethical concerns - Participants experienced emotional distress, though the study ultimately led to positive changes in hospital practices.

Reicher and Haslam's BBC Prison Study (2006)

Method

• Participants - 15 male volunteers were randomly divided into 5 guards and 10 prisoners.
• Setup - A controlled observation in a mock prison, filmed for television, with daily assessments of depression, compliance, and stress levels.
• Special condition - Prisoners were told one would be promoted to guard after three days, affecting initial behaviour.
• Ethical safeguards - An independent ethics committee had authority to halt the study to protect participants.

Results

• Guard behaviour - Guards struggled to unite or fully adopt their role, feeling uneasy about the inequality and often hesitating to assert power.
• Prisoner dynamics - Initially, prisoners behaved strategically to achieve promotion; after the promotion, they formed a stronger, more cohesive group.
• System breakdown - The unequal structure collapsed due to guard reluctance and prisoner unity; a democratic setup was attempted but failed due to internal conflicts.
• New hierarchy attempt - Some former prisoners proposed a stricter regime with themselves as leaders.
• Early termination - The study was stopped early by the ethics committee due to participant stress.

Conclusions

• Role flexibility - Unlike Zimbardo's findings, participants did not rigidly conform to expected roles, suggesting social roles can be adaptable.
• Group influence - Group identity and situational factors significantly affect behaviour, sometimes more than assigned roles.

Evaluation

• Strengths - Strong ethical standards were maintained with informed consent, participant protection, debriefing, and access to counselling.
• Contrast with Zimbardo - Prisoners formed a strong group while guards were less dominant, possibly due to less empowerment compared to Zimbardo's guards.
• Limitations - Criticised for potential staging due to television filming, with suggestions that participants exaggerated behaviours for the cameras.
• Generalisation challenges - The artificial setting limits how far findings can be applied to real-life situations.

Real-world implications of conformity to social roles

Historical events and social roles

• Holocaust atrocities - During World War Two, the horrific murder of around 6 million Jewish individuals by Nazi soldiers raised questions about whether such actions resulted from inherent malevolence or conformity to social roles.
• Situational vs. dispositional factors - Zimbardo's research suggests that 'normal' individuals can commit terrible acts due to situational influences like assigned roles, rather than personal disposition.

Applications in institutional settings

• Hospital contexts - Orlando's study revealed the emotional impact of patient roles, prompting efforts to enhance respect and cooperation between staff and patients.
• Group dynamics in institutions - Reicher and Haslam's findings indicate that group strength and resistance to roles can alter expected behaviours, providing insights for managing institutional structures.

Wider societal effects

• Adaptability of roles - These studies collectively demonstrate that while social roles can significantly shape behaviour, individual and group responses vary, indicating potential for resistance or adaptation.
• Ethical progress in research - The shift from Zimbardo's ethically questionable study to Reicher and Haslam's safeguarded approach underscores the importance of protecting participants while investigating impactful social phenomena.