Today, we can’t replicate classic experiments such as Zimbardo’s Stanford prison study or Milgram’s obedience study because we realize that there may be psychological risks to participants that outweigh the benefits of the research. But, let’s just say we could and that we wanted to see if the effects replicate in a different context (e.g., instead of a teacher-learner situation, let’s say we want to study obedience in a different situation).
Describe a real life situation in which you think obedience, conformity, social norms, or social roles may have a big impact on people’s behavior. Some examples are face mask wearing, hoarding, drunk driving, criminal behavior, cheating, hazing, gang behavior, working at a company like Dell, participating on athletic teams (men vs. women, captains vs. members), etc.
Design a study (experiment, survey, or observation) to test whether your concept (choose one: conformity, obedience, or social roles) has an influence on people’s behavior. Make your study as simple as possible and describe it in detail. What do you predict will happen? What do you think you will find?
