The legacy of a famous psychological study of college students

In 2024, The The Stanford Report reported that on October 14, the world famous Psychologist Philip Zimbardo has died. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment gained national attention after he recruited graduate students from Stanford University to spend two weeks in a simulated prison, divided into groups of prisoners and guards. According to the Stanford report, during the experiment, the guards acted abusively towards the prisoners, while the prisoners exhibited symptoms such as acute anxiety and depressive moods. Although this experiment was stopped after two weeks, the results highlighted the influence that social roles have on human behavior, especially in the case of students. As discussed in a 2024 report by VeryWellMind.comthe prisoners and the guards they were allowed to interact with each other in any way they wanted.

Shortly after his death, The Los Angeles Times pointed out how Dr. Zimbardo he was passionate about expanding the results of his research to prison and criminal justice reform. Just before his death in 2020, a report in Forbes.com contour how Dr. Zimbardo expanded his research to study heroism and overcoming the “bystander effect” and prejudice. A 2021 report by Psychology today pointed out how Dr. Zimbardo he further expanded his research to study time perspectives and shyness.

In 2019, American psychologist released a report highlighting the scientific deficiency of the Stanford prison experiment. Despite these shortcomings, potential ramifications for higher education remain. Although the systematic abuses displayed in the Stanford Prison Experiment are unlikely to occur on a college campus, all schools have group dynamics that include social roles and perceived power differentials. In 2021, Boston University released a story about college experiences for poor students attending wealthy universities. In 2016, The college magazine discussed the college experiences of racially diverse students attending a predominantly white university. A 2015 study in International Research Education examined the college experiences of international students attending US schools. In addition to student-to-student group dynamics, colleges must consider power differentials in other group interactions on campus, such as faculty-staff interactions and administrator-parent interactions.

In 2023, SimplyPsychology contour two dynamics in the Stanford prison experiment. These dynamics are deindividuation and learned helplessness, and both remain relevant to higher education institutions.

Deindividuation

In 2019, Good therapy defined deindividuation as occurs when a person’s identity with a group exceeds self-identity and awareness. In the Stanford prison experiment, some students followed the group norms of being a guard and behaved in ways they would not have done while acting as an individual. A recent example of this dynamic on a college campus can be found in a 2024 report by cbssports, in which students from the University of Texas he threw beer bottles on the field during a football match. It is likely that many of these students would not have thrown anything away if they were the only person in the student section.

The SimplyPsychology the report also emphasized the importance of emphasizing personal responsibility to reduce deindividuation. Schools can emphasize personal accountability in formal ways, such as the Student Code of Conduct and performance reviews for faculty and staff. However, more consistent ways might include promoting values-based living, welcoming diversity, and encouraging empathy on campus.

Learned helplessness

In 2018, the American Psychological Association defined learned helplessness as occurs when individuals are faced with repeated and uncontrollable stressors that result in the individual not using any available option to control or change the situation. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, prisoners developed a perception that they could not control the actions of the guards, and this perception prevented them from responding positively. A 2024 report by Inside the Upper Eddiscussed how the dynamic of learned helplessness is evident on college campuses. Reducing this dynamic includes encouraging help-seeking, problem-solving, and conflict resolution, all of which can improve student retention.

Dr. Philip Zimbardo has had a lasting impact on the field of psychology, and regardless of differing opinions about his research, the Stanford Prison Experiment still signifies the importance of examining the impact that social roles and group dynamics have on behavior. Colleges and universities will benefit from using the lessons taught by Dr. Zimbardo’s work.