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Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford prison experiment was an attempt to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the struggle between prisoners and prison officers. It was conducted at Stanford University in 1971, by a research group led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo and using college students as subjects.

Zimbardo aimed to test the hypothesis that the inherent personality traits of prisoners and guards are the chief cause of abusive behaviour in prison. Participants were randomly assigned to either the role of prisoner or guard, simulating a prison environment. Prisoners were treated like every other criminal. When they arrived at the prison they were stripped naked, deloused, had all their personal possessions removed and locked away, and were given prison clothes and bedding. They were issued a uniform, and referred to by their number only. The use of ID numbers was a way to make prisoners feel anonymous.

Within hours of beginning the experiment those who were assigned as guards began to harass the prisoners. The prisoners were taunted with insults, given pointless and boring tasks to accomplish, and they were generally dehumanised. In less than a week some of the guards had become sadistic, escalating their abuse of prisoners as the days passed. The prisoners had broken down emotionally and physically.

The results of the study concluded that people conform to the social roles they are expected to play, especially if the roles are as strongly stereotyped as those of the prison guards. It seemed that it was the situation, and not their individual personalities, that had caused the guards brutal and sadistic behaviour. None of the participants who had become guards had shown signs of sadistic personality types before the beginning of the study.

 

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Psychological Experiments That Show The Peculiarities Of Our Minds
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