In 1971, Philip Zimbardo, an American psychologist and past president of the American Psychological Association, investigated these reasons for evil through his experiment, called the Stanford Prison Experiment. He randomly picked mentally healthy college students to play roles as prisoners and guards. Under Zimbardo, who was the warden of the prison, the guards psychologically abused the prisoners. From this, Zimbardo learned that the situation over inherent characteristics was what essentially caused the evil behavior behind the guards, and that group pressure played a large role as well. Zimbardo’s idea asserts that “the doers… become an in-group” (Aron) under visible authority; consequently, they “see those not in that groups as out-group
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From his experiment, Zimbardo was able to synthesize a list of certain conditions that explain how good people do bad things. One of Zimbardo’s ideas discusses that inherent evil is exhibited when the doers become an in-group under visible authority or a common goal, an outgroup is formed, consisting of the “done-to” victims of evil. The doers are often pressured by fellow group members persuading them to do tasks of evil to avoid being shamed or exiled. It can be seen many works of literature, such as The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. His idea is also present in historical events such as the Holocaust and the Salem Witch Trials. While the human nature can be very unpredictable at times, with evil showing up in even the best of people, it can be prevented through the preservation of personal values, even under extreme social pressures. We as humans can still learn to admit our mistakes, and in a collective effort, we can all reduce any shame we may have. We can speak up when something is heading in the wrong direction, and steer everyone back onto the right track. If it is done carefully and thoroughly, evil can be stopped in its tracks before it fully dehumanizes any human being, ultimately conserving the human
From his experiment, Zimbardo was able to synthesize a list of certain conditions that explain how good people do bad things. One of Zimbardo’s ideas discusses that inherent evil is exhibited when the doers become an in-group under visible authority or a common goal, an outgroup is formed, consisting of the “done-to” victims of evil. The doers are often pressured by fellow group members persuading them to do tasks of evil to avoid being shamed or exiled. It can be seen many works of literature, such as The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. His idea is also present in historical events such as the Holocaust and the Salem Witch Trials. While the human nature can be very unpredictable at times, with evil showing up in even the best of people, it can be prevented through the preservation of personal values, even under extreme social pressures. We as humans can still learn to admit our mistakes, and in a collective effort, we can all reduce any shame we may have. We can speak up when something is heading in the wrong direction, and steer everyone back onto the right track. If it is done carefully and thoroughly, evil can be stopped in its tracks before it fully dehumanizes any human being, ultimately conserving the human