Conducted in 1971 at Stanford University, a prestigious academic institution.
Directed by psychologist Philip Zimbardo to study the effects of situational variables on human behavior.
Inspired by Stanley Milgram's earlier obedience experiments.
Objective
Investigate whether good people put in an evil place would behave in accordance with the power situational dynamics or resist it.
Focus on the impact of perceived authority and institutional norms on individuals.
Setup
Simulated prison environment in the basement of the psychology department.
Three office cells, solitary confinement (the "hole"), and military uniforms for guards with mirrored sunglasses to depersonalize interactions.
Participants were Stanford students paid $15 per day, screened for psychological normality and randomly assigned roles of guards or prisoners.
Initial Conditions
Guards instructed to maintain law and order without using physical violence.
Prisoners were strip-searched, deloused, and humiliated to create a power imbalance.
Initial atmosphere resembled a summer camp.
Development of the Experiment
By the second morning, prisoners rebelled and barricaded themselves, leading to harsh punishments and escalating power abuse by guards.
Leaders of the rebellion, like prisoner 8612, were isolated and dehumanized, leading to mental distress.
Guards intensified their campaign of harassment: night wakings, menial tasks, and insults to undermine prisoner solidarity.
Psychological Impact
Prisoners showed severe stress, breakdowns, and loss of identity (prison numbers over personal names).
Guards displayed sadistic tendencies, enjoying the power and control they exerted over prisoners.
Prisoner's helplessness and guards' dominance highlighted the ease of authority abuse.
Ethical Concerns and Distorted Reality
Zimbardo himself was caught up, acting more as a prison superintendent than a researcher, losing objectivity.
Release of prisoners- turned into manipulative negotiation- some prisoners felt completely trapped.
Release of prisoners: prisoners 8612 and 819 released due to extreme emotional disturbance.
Intervention and Termination
Christina Maslach, a psychologist, visited, horrified by the mistreatment, confronting Zimbardo.
Ethical realization: Conducting such an experiment was harmful, overlooking participants' well-being for the study.
Experiment was terminated after six days instead of the planned two weeks.
Conclusion
Demonstrated situational power can override individual morality and ethics.
Ethical guidelines were subsequently reformed to protect human subjects in psychological research.
Reflects understanding of human behavior in authority-driven oppressive environments, useful for analyzing military, police, and institutional settings.
Post-Experiment Reflection
Participants discussed their experiences, revealing emotional trauma and guilt, particularly among guards for their sadistic behavior.
Recognized consequences of role-playing and situational pressures in creating real psychological distress.