Using evidence from Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment, describe the effect of role-playing on human behavior.

Answer:

Responses may vary but should include some or all of the following information: Role-playing can have a tremendous effect on human behavior. An individual who is merely acting or pretending to adopt a social role can actually internalize the role. During the Stanford prison experiment, students who were psychologically identical began to embody the roles they were assigned, either becoming prison guards or passive prisoners. For example, the guards began to act in a more brutal manner, giving the prisoners physical punishments and humiliating them. Prisoners were dressed in embarrassing uniforms, referred to by numbers instead of names, made to wear stockings on their heads, and forced to wear a chain around one ankle to remind them of their situation.