zimbardo’s research

• zimbardo's research consisted of 21 male university students who volunteered in response to a newspaper advert
• these participants were selected from 75 volunteers based on their physical and mental stability and were paid $15 a day to take part 
• then participants were randomly assigned to one of two social roles, prisoner or guard
• zimbardo turned the basement of Stanford university into a mock prison in which he was the warden
• the ‘prisoners; were arrested by real local police and fingerprinted, stripped and given a numbered smocked to wear, with chains placed around their ankles 
• the guards were given uniforms, dark reflective sunglasses, handcuffs and a truncheon, the guards were instructed to run the prison without using physical violence 
• the length of zimbardo's procedure had lasted 6 days
• result's of zimbardo's research:

  • within days the prisoners rebelled, but this was quickly crushed by the guards who then grew increasingly abusive towards the prisoners 
  • the guards dehumanised the prisoners, waking them during the night and forcing them to clean toilets with their bare hands: the prisoners became increasingly submissive
  • 5 of the prisoners were released from the experiment early because of their adverse reactions to the physical and mental torment 
• conclusions of zimbardo's research:

  • people quickly conform to social roles, even when the role goes against their moral principles
  • situational factors were largely responsible
  • none of the participants had ever demonstrated these behaviours previously