The Stanford Prison Experiment

Stanford University psychology professor Philip Zimbardo conducts a psychological experiment to test the hypothesis that the personality traits of prisoners and guards are the chief cause of abusive behavior between them. In the experiment Zimbardo selects twenty-four male students to participate in a 7–14 days prison simulation to take roles as prisoners or guards. They receive $15 per day. The experiment is conducted in a mock prison located in the basement of Jordan Hall, the university psychology building. The students who are guards become abusive, as does Zimbardo himself. Two students who play the role of prisoners quit the experiment early and the entire experiment is abruptly stopped after only six days. The US Office of Naval Research provides the funding for the experiment and US Navy and Marine Corps both show interest in this investigation into the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners.