Stanford Prison Experiment Was Based on a Lie, Claims Report

The Stanford Prison Experiment showed that when in a position of power, humans are inclined to abuse it.

(Photo Courtesy: Stanford Libraries)

One of the most famous psychological studies conducted in 1971 which proved that human beings are naturally inclined to abuse power when given a position of command, was based on fakery and lies as per a latest exposé.

In the Stanford Prison Experiment, paid participants were made inmates at the American university who were put under the supervision of guards. The researchers found that soon the guards started abusing the volunteer prisoners in the mock prison.

However, a fresh report on Medium published by author Dr Ben Blum claims that the findings were wrong and deceitful.

The report points to recordings found in archives at the Stanford University which show the research’s head professor Philip Zimbardo encouraged guards to treat inmates poorly. It adds that one volunteer inmate admitted to faking a fit of madness that the study claimed was driven by the prison's brutal conditions.

The findings has incited responses from several psychologists with demands of ‘getting it out of textbooks.’

The experiment has been cited in psychology textbooks, has altered the ways in which prisons are run in the US, and also been the subject of several documentaries and a feature film of the same name.