What was that <span title="psychological/sociological">psychological/sociologica...</span> experiment.....?

Question

In college I remember learning in one of my classes about an experiment back in the late 60's or early 70's in which a group of college students were put in a position to be "jailers" and "inmates". The ones put in power ended up acting quite cruel to the "inmates" The experiment ended up showing among other things that, to some extent, power corrupts even the most pacifist-type people. It was really fascinating but I can't remember what it was called so I'm having trouble knowing how to Google it. (Oops...I mean Yahoo it :) Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

The experiment you are talking about happened at Stanford University. What was interesting was, people believed so much in the roles they were assigned that it stopped being an experiment to them - they would cry and want to be out of &quot;jail&quot; but even though it was all make believe and they could walk out anytime, they were dogged down by the &quot;System&quot; that Stanford created.

This experiment is not only an example of power and corruption but it illustrates something more important - role playing. When you are assigned a role in life - mother, daughter, coworker, whatever - you embrace it and perhaps you might not even realize how much brainwashing and control the role you play in society plays in your actions and decisions.

For instance, the &quot;prisoners&quot;, after a few days into the experiment, honestly began to believe they were prisoners, acted out accordingly, felt shattering loss of self esteem, made poor decisions. The &quot;guards&quot; believed they were powerful, began to feel superior, and were even violent and pushy towards inmates.

By embracing roles that society puts on us, we almost willingly yoke ourselves and put on a willing mental straight jacket because in a way, playing a role enforces a mindset and stereotype as to how that role should act and behave.

This is a famous, famous experiment and you can analyze it for days. There&#039;s entire books written about the experiment, it&#039;s fallout and it&#039;s impact on Sociology.

The experiment was in fact so instantly detrimental to the mental health of the &quot;inmates&quot; and &quot;guards&quot; it was called off just days into it! People just took it so seriously. It&#039;s just another example that proves that sometimes trying to fit a label or role can really change your entire life. What&#039;s more important, the fact that when society gives you a label or role - like prisoner - and the way it can completely wreck your entire life.

Answer 2

Slow down!!! If u wanna find the answer look slowly........