Zimbardo's Role In The Purpose Of The Stanford Prison Experiment

Professor Philip Zimbardo constructed The Stanford Prison Experiment to observe how prison guards would react to being given power over prisoners, the outcome was appalling. The experience became so realistic for the students volunteering that they went through temporary emotional trauma. The Stanford Prison Experiment has played a huge role in the psychology of human behavior for the purpose of understanding human behavior when they are given too much power, very specific people were chosen to partake in this experiment. The purpose of this prison experiment was to see what people are capable under given power and how it can take toll on prisoners and guards. The United States Office of Naval Research funded it because they were also interested …show more content…
As a punishment, guards would take away the things they needed like beds or denying them the right to empty their sanitation bucket (“The Stanford Prison Experiment: Rebellion”). This caused the guards to start being abusive towards them. On the same day, one of the prisoners started acting crazy, screaming and lashing out. He was eventually let go, as Zimbardo thought his reaction was genuine “(The Stanford Prison Experiment”). The guards got so invested in the role that they began showing ruthless behavior, as if they were enjoying inflicting pain; it continued as prisoners acted out. Out of the twelve prisoners, six ended up leaving throughout the six day period, no guards …show more content…
Instead of stepping in as the guards physically and emotionally abused the prisoners, he observed because he wanted to see how far they would take it (“Stanford Prison Experiment”). He later regretted doing so and apologized for getting too invested in it and causing the students emotional trauma. Many people came in and observed the experiment, only one believed it was wrong. Christina Maslach, a graduate student from Stanford, was one of the observers and believed the experiment had been taken too far (“Stanford Prison Experiment”). She convinced Zimbardo to end the experiment only after six days instead of the full two weeks. He agreed that it was sufficient time to understand a prison environment in that little amount of time and the effect it can have on people.
Perfectly healthy men can change just by giving them authority over others and belittle them. The results were astonishing and changed the future of psychology. The Stanford Prison Experiment has played a huge role in the psychology of human behavior for the purpose of understanding human behavior when they are given too much power, very specific people were chosen to partake in this experiment. Although it did not go as planned, the results were