Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment

• Aim

  To investigate how roles influence behavior in a prison simulation.
• Procedure

  • 24 male participants randomly assigned as guards or prisoners.
  • Study stopped after 6 days due to extreme behaviour.
• Findings

  Guards became abusive, prisoners became submissive, showing the power of social roles.
• Strengths

  • Realistic setting: High internal validity.
  • Important findings: Helps explain behaviour in real-life prisons.
• Weaknesses

  • Ethical concerns: Participants suffered distress.
  • Lack of control: Hard to determine if behaviour was due to roles or personality.