Zimbardo's Experiment Analysis

Although behavior is portrayed differently depending on the situation one is found in, it is possible to be self-aware and make that a core value that is being exercised at all times so that principles are not wavered as easily. Now that there have been several experiments demonstrating the power of situation and circumstances, it would be easy to accept and think of one as powerless against life because one never knows what circumstances life will bring to them and being a good/moral person appears to be situational. But, what if these experiments could serve a greater purpose? Haney proposes that he, when going into actual prisons, makes sure that he is aware that the things that happen in prison are not normal and not something to be okay

It is far more common to hear about leaders who mistreat the people around them than hearing about great leaders who make everyone feel a sense of worth and actually care about their surrounding peers. In this experiment most people in authority, including the researchers, forgot to ask themselves how their behavior was affecting those that were not in power. How many awful things does one have to do before their integrity can be questioned? Milgram and Zimbardo’s experiments propose the idea that one’s integrity has nothing to do with how they react in the experiments because behavior is situational. But the guards in Zimbardo’s experiment did some really awful things and Eshleman in particular, to this day speaks about the things he did very lightheartedly, finding it all a bit humorous. Perhaps we will never be able to judge the prison guards or Eshleman’s behavior but we now know something that they did not know: different situations will bring out different sides of us. We get the opportunity to practice what we believe and stand true to who we are; knowing that life may present us with uncomfortable scenarios. We now get to choose whether to stick with our morals or not and can no longer blame our behavior entirely on our situations. It is probable that we may still be influenced by what goes on around us but that should not deter us from trying to be the person we think we are our everyday lives.

The Stanford Experiment demonstrated to us just how powerful being in different situations can affect our behavior. There is a lot that we can learn from this extreme operation but the most obvious is just that: one’s circumstances can hugely alter their actions and their perspectives. But it is not impossible to stay true to what one believes and that is one thing we can learn from this and apply in our everyday