Zimbardo

• Key study


  The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)
• Procedure


  1. Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues (Haney et al 1973) set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University to test whether the brutality of prison guards was the result of sadistic personalities or whether it was created by the situation

  2. They recruited 24 emotionally stable students determined by psychological testing-randomly assigned roles of guards or prisoners

  3. To increase realism, prisoners' were arrested in their homes and delivered to the 'prison-blindfolded, strip-searched, deloused and issued a uniform and number

  4. The prisoners' daily routines were heavily regulated. There were 16 rules to follow, enforced by guards working in shifts, three at a time
• De-individuation (losing a sense of personal identity)


  • Prisoners' names were never used, only their numbers
  • Guards had their own uniform-wooden club, handcuffs, keys and mirror shades. They were told they had complete power over the prisoners, for instance deciding when they could go to the toilet