Roles in Life and How Roles Affect Stanford Prison Experiment Participants

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Social Psychology: Roles and Stanford Prison Experiment
Roles are significant aspects that adequately transform the social-psychological field. Every learner must understand and appreciate every role they play in life and the important effects of such roles. Besides, roles vary from one individual to another and must adequately be considered for smooth life adjustment. The paper addresses roles in social psychology and focuses on the Stanford Prison experiment to justify the importance of roles in society.
Defining a Role
A role in social psychology is the collection of specific expectations based on a certain social position. It can also be defined as a collective and coherent behavior that an individual should portray in a social setting or group (Biddle 11). In the social-psychological world, men and women are key players and determine the effectiveness of social settings. Indeed, specific behaviors align with the social roles in life. Every individual in society has a specific role depending on the context. An individual may be either an employee, a friend, or a student. The identified roles align with specific expectations. Besides, a given specific reward of a role may differ from other roles. Therefore, roles range from diffuse to specific depending on the situation. For instance, people confuse gender roles with being similar; however, they are specific depending on the context and social setting. Therefore, the role is a key element in social life.
Roles in life
I play different roles in life, and each role affects me differently. I play the first role as a mother. I ensure I offer my children adequate social and psychological guidance and ensure they are not impacted. As a mother, it is my responsibility to ensure my children have adequate basic and emotional needs. The role shapes me by building my confidence and self-esteem. I also play the social role of a girlfriend by ensuring I sustain my relationship by meeting key objectives such as relationship support. The role allows me to improve my social and engagement skills. I play the role of a student by engaging my peers and collaborating to achieve higher academic goals. The role allows me to grow professionally. Lastly, I work as a drug and alcohol program monitor, which allows me to understand specific antisocial behaviors caused by drug abuse and alcoholism. Therefore, it is justifiable that the key roles adequately shape my behaviors.
How Roles might change us
Roles in social psychology heavily determine behavioral changes. For instance, it allows individuals to e...