“Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)”
This essay will talk about “imprisonment” and its psychological effects.
In 1971, between August 14 and 20, psychology professor, Philip Zimbardo was the leader of a psychological research done at Stanford University. Professor Zimbardo and his professional team chose the main points of experiment, which were how to be a prisoner or a prison guard can change people’s behavior, their interactions, and use of the power or lack of it. The team wanted to find out why there is always conflict and hostile relationship between these two prison occupants. What professor Zimbardo did was trying to find out how humans will change the behavior in case the situation and environment change drastically, and how power corrupts …show more content…
The players/candidates took their fake roles too seriously, and drowned in a false reality of really being a prisoner or the guard. The participants who had become the guards started torturing the fake prisoners mentally, and subject them to cruel/insulting punishments. The participants who had become the fake prisoners, started to feel helpless, hopeless, and submissive. The fake guards had easier time to adopt their role, and surprisingly started to show cruel and disturbing behavior towards fake prisoners within first hours of the start of the psychological test. This method provoked/encouraged other guards to start to show the same insulting, harassing, and inhuman actions towards the participants who were playing the role of the prisoners. In the other hand, the fake prisoners started to behave more in depressive and submissive ways, which proved that the guards behavior and the imprisonment were getting into them, and changing their moods, behavior, and self-esteem. Interestingly, the crueler the guards, the more submissive the prisoner! Finally, the whole experiment reached such an intolerable high point, that it had to be stopped (only after six days), and Zimbardo was criticized about letting it go that far and that long. The interviews done post-experiment with the organizers, creators, and participants made it clear that it seemed to them so real that caused all the behavioral, mental, …show more content…
It shows different conditions, circumstances, and lifestyles can influence one’s behaviors and reactions. They can make one a victim or a tyrant. It made me wonder about my own psyche, and how would I have behaved if I would have taken part in this experiment? This experiment reminded me of “Lord of the Flies” written by William Golding. It’s about putting good in evil places/situations, and observe the outcome. What I wonder is the mental state and real characters of the participants, since that could have been an important factor in test result. What percent of the participants were evil/bad people, and what,
This essay will talk about “imprisonment” and its psychological effects.
In 1971, between August 14 and 20, psychology professor, Philip Zimbardo was the leader of a psychological research done at Stanford University. Professor Zimbardo and his professional team chose the main points of experiment, which were how to be a prisoner or a prison guard can change people’s behavior, their interactions, and use of the power or lack of it. The team wanted to find out why there is always conflict and hostile relationship between these two prison occupants. What professor Zimbardo did was trying to find out how humans will change the behavior in case the situation and environment change drastically, and how power corrupts …show more content…
The players/candidates took their fake roles too seriously, and drowned in a false reality of really being a prisoner or the guard. The participants who had become the guards started torturing the fake prisoners mentally, and subject them to cruel/insulting punishments. The participants who had become the fake prisoners, started to feel helpless, hopeless, and submissive. The fake guards had easier time to adopt their role, and surprisingly started to show cruel and disturbing behavior towards fake prisoners within first hours of the start of the psychological test. This method provoked/encouraged other guards to start to show the same insulting, harassing, and inhuman actions towards the participants who were playing the role of the prisoners. In the other hand, the fake prisoners started to behave more in depressive and submissive ways, which proved that the guards behavior and the imprisonment were getting into them, and changing their moods, behavior, and self-esteem. Interestingly, the crueler the guards, the more submissive the prisoner! Finally, the whole experiment reached such an intolerable high point, that it had to be stopped (only after six days), and Zimbardo was criticized about letting it go that far and that long. The interviews done post-experiment with the organizers, creators, and participants made it clear that it seemed to them so real that caused all the behavioral, mental, …show more content…
It shows different conditions, circumstances, and lifestyles can influence one’s behaviors and reactions. They can make one a victim or a tyrant. It made me wonder about my own psyche, and how would I have behaved if I would have taken part in this experiment? This experiment reminded me of “Lord of the Flies” written by William Golding. It’s about putting good in evil places/situations, and observe the outcome. What I wonder is the mental state and real characters of the participants, since that could have been an important factor in test result. What percent of the participants were evil/bad people, and what,