Conformity Part Two-Stanford Prison Experiment
My sincerest apologies. I gave that entire explanation of conformity and never even mentioned Stanford.
Stanford Prison Experiment
It’s one thing to study compliance, obedience, and other factors governing our social behavior in a lab. What happens though when these forces are working within us while life is in motion? What happens when we examine these behaviors over time. What if we manipulate variables like perceived authority?
This is a little more complex.
In 1971, at Stanford University, Philip Zimbardo designed an experiment to look more closely at these dynamics.
Student volunteers would be in a mock prison for two weeks.
“How we went about testing these questions and what we found may astound you. Our planned two-week investigation into the psychology of prison life had to be ended after only six days because of what the situation was doing to the college students who participated. In only a few days, our guards became sadistic and our prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress. Please read the story of what happened and what it tells us about the nature of human nature.” Professor Zimbardo
Points to Ponder
- These participants didn’t grow up in these circumstances
- Random assignment makes a random assortment of “personality types”
- The rituals of incarceration change people
- Power changes people
- Helplessness changes people
- These participants were screened on the basis of being sound of mind
- Knowing right from wrong didn’t prevent the outcome
- Whether or not they were coached, they still committed the behaviors
- Cognitive dissonance can lead people to change their stories over time
- TheCult of the Ego is everywhere
Admittedly, there are issues with the study. There are actually lots of issues with this study. It does give some insight into how people respond to situations of tight control.
Leave a Reply