this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2023
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The Stanford Prison Experiment, one of the most famous and compelling psychological studies of all time, told us a tantalizingly simple story about human nature.

The study took paid participants and assigned them to be “inmates” or “guards” in a mock prison at Stanford University. Soon after the experiment began, the “guards” began mistreating the “prisoners,” implying evil is brought out by circumstance. The authors, in their conclusions, suggested innocent people, thrown into a situation where they have power over others, will begin to abuse that power. And people who are put into a situation where they are powerless will be driven to submission, even madness.

The Stanford Prison Experiment has been included in many, many introductory psychology textbooks and is often cited uncritically. It’s the subject of movies, documentaries, books, television shows, and congressional testimony.

But its findings were wrong. Very wrong. And not just due to its questionable ethics or lack of concrete data — but because of deceit.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Have we not known this for decades?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

By Brian Resnick@B_[email protected] Jun 13, 2018, 2:30pm EDT

At least more than half a decade.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

They didn't even know what a control group was; "fraud" may be giving it too much credit

The experiment was little more than a political demonstration and I can confirm that was "old news" to my professors in the late '00s