Stanford Prison Experiment - Zimbardo by Peace Park

Philip Zimbardo Psychologist NYU professor Stanford Univ. Professor President of American Psychological Association Founder of the Shyness clinic Led the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment

Stanford Prison Experiment Conducted in 1971 by Philip Zimbardo and a team of researchers. ‘Prison’ was in the basement of the Stanford Psychology Department. Known as very infamous Issued because of its ethnical problem.

Hypothesis Self-selecting of a certain disposition that would naturally lead to poor conditions. Zimbardo looked for participants disorientation, depersonalization and deindividuation. Human responses to captivity and its behavioral effects on both authorities and inmates in prison.

Setting of the Experiment Recruited people through newspaper ad and paid $15 per day($77). 24 people were selected from 75 respondents (3 of them did not participate) All 21 people were divided into two groups: Guards and Prisoners.

Guards  Dressed in military style uniform  Wooden batons were given  They could go home when they are off  Mirrored Sunglasses  Later, guars stayed longer than their assigned time even though they did not get paid.

Prisoners  Kept in prison  No underwear  Muslin smock  Rubber thong sandals  Referred by number  Forced to wear tight pantyhose caps  Always chained around ankles

Process – 1 st day Guards had a brief meeting  No specific guidelines (no physical violence)  “You can create in the prisoners feelings of boredom, a sense of fear to some degree, you can created a notion of arbitrariness that their life is totally controlled by us, by the system, you, me, and they’ll have no privacy…We’re going to take away their individuality in various ways. In general what all this leads to is a sense of powerlessness. That is, in this situation we’ll have all the power and they’ll have none.” – The Stanford Prison Study video

Prisoners were told to be waiting at home Arrested by the actual Palo Alto police department (cooperated) without any warning All prisoners went through a full booking procedure, including fingerprinting, mug shots, and personal information

Both guards and prisoners adopted themselves quickly in their roles Guards ordered prisoners to do things such as push-ups and singing

A riot broke out  Guards stopped them with fire extinguishers w/ out supervision  Long hours of forced exercise as a punishment Filthy surroundings – not allowed to go bathroom Some were forced to clean toilets with bare hands Forced nudity & sexual humiliation

Many guards became sadistic 1/3 of the guards exhibited ‘genuine’ sadistic tendencies Prisoner 416  Went on a hunger strike  Considered as a ‘troublemaker’  Blanket vs. Solitary confinement Zimbardo concluded the experiment early when Christina Maslach mentioned about morality of this experiment.

Conclusion The prisoners internalized their roles  They did not quit the experiment although they did not get paid. Situational vs. Dispositional Changes in behavior of guards and prisoners were sort of adaptation rather than innate personalities