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Stanford Prison Experiment

Definition

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a psychological study conducted by Philip Zimbardo in 1971. It aimed to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the struggle between prisoners and prison officers.

Analogy

Think of it like a school play where students are assigned roles as either heroes or villains. Over time, they start behaving like their characters even off-stage because they've become so immersed in their roles.

Related terms

Role-playing: This is when individuals act out or perform specific roles, often different from their personal identities. In the context of the Stanford Prison Experiment, participants were asked to role-play as either prisoners or guards.

Deindividuation: This refers to losing self-awareness in groups, which can lead to changes in behavior and lessened responsibility. During the experiment, guards started losing their individuality and began acting cruelly towards prisoners.

Conformity: Conformity is adjusting one's behavior or thinking to match those of other people or a group standard. Both 'prisoners' and 'guards' conformed to what they believed were expected behaviors for their roles.