The Forgotten Role of Individual Differences in the Stanford Prison Experiment

Why the Stanford Prison Experiment did NOT show situations overpower personality

The Stanford Prison experiment (SPE) is one of the most famous, or indeed infamous, studies in the history of psychology. The dramatic and horrifying result of the SPE have been used to draw rather sweeping conclusions about human nature and the psychology of evil. For example, the SPE supposedly illustrates the power of an abusive situation to induce good people to…