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- 🧠Human Psychology Facts – Issue #3
🧠Human Psychology Facts – Issue #3
The Experiment That Went Too Far
Faraz Ali
November 05, 2025
Some stories in psychology are so disturbing they sound like fiction. This one really happened.
Back in 1971, a psychologist named Philip Zimbardo set out to study how power changes people. He and his team built a fake prison in the basement of Stanford University. Volunteers were randomly chosen to play “guards” or “prisoners.”
It was supposed to last two weeks. It ended after six days.
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When Roleplay Turned Real
At first, everyone treated it like a game. But within 24 hours, the guards started pushing boundaries. They barked orders, invented punishments, and humiliated the prisoners for fun.
The prisoners, also just college kids, broke down fast. Some cried. Some rebelled. Some went completely quiet.
Zimbardo himself got sucked in. As the “warden,” he stopped being a scientist and started running an actual prison. It took another researcher walking in horrified to snap him out of it.
That’s when he pulled the plug.
The Real Lesson
What shocked everyone wasn’t just the cruelty, it was how fast normal people changed.
These weren’t violent or evil men. They were average students given power and a uniform. The experiment showed how easily we absorb the roles we’re given and how quickly morality bends under authority.
The worst part? When asked why they acted that way, most guards said, “I was just doing my job.”
Sound familiar?
Something to Think About
We like to believe we’d stay kind, even in a bad system.
But history, and this experiment, suggests otherwise.
Evil doesn’t always look like a villain.
Sometimes, it looks like obedience.
See you next week,
– Team Human Psychology Facts
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