Editing Stanford prison experiment (section)

== Similar studies ==
In 1967, [[The Third Wave (experiment)|The Third Wave experiment]] involved the use of authoritarian dynamics similar to [[Nazi Party]] methods of mass control in a classroom setting by high school teacher [[Ron Jones (teacher)|Ron Jones]] in [[Palo Alto, California]] with the goal of demonstrating vividly to the class how the German public in [[World War II]] could have acted in the way it did.<ref name="wave">{{cite web |url=http://www.thewavehome.com/1976_The-Third-Wave_story.htm |title=The Third Wave |last1=Jones |first1=Ron |date=1976 |website=The Wave Home |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202082041/http://www.thewavehome.com/1976_The-Third-Wave_story.htm |archive-date=February 2, 2015 |access-date=December 3, 2016 }}</ref> Although the veracity of Jones' accounts has been questioned, several participants with the study have gone on record to confirm the events.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lessonplanmovie.com/|title=Lesson Plan: The Story of the Third Wave (The Wave, Die Welle)|publisher=lessonplanmovie.com}}</ref>

In both experiments, participants found it difficult to leave the study due to the roles they were assigned. Both studies examine human nature and the effects of authority. Personalities of the subjects were thought to have little influence on both experiments despite the test before the prison experiment.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title = Comparing Milgram's Obedience and Zimbardo's Prison Studies|url = http://sccpsy101.com/2011/11/25/comparing-milgrams-obedience-and-zimbardos-prison-studies/|website = PSY 101 – Introduction to Psychology by Jeffrey Ricker, Ph.D.|access-date = November 12, 2015|language = en-US|date = November 25, 2011}}</ref>

Both the Milgram and Zimbardo studies concluded that participants conform to [[social pressure]]s. [[Conformity]] is strengthened by allowing some participants to feel more or less powerful than others.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haslam |first1=S. Alexander |last2=Reicher |first2=Stephen. D. |date=2012-11-20 |title=Contesting the "Nature" Of Conformity: What Milgram and Zimbardo's Studies Really Show |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=e1001426 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001426 |issn=1544-9173 |pmc=3502509 |pmid=23185132 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In both experiments, the people's behaviors altered to match the group stereotypes, demonstrating a tendency to conform to others passively, even if a particular subject is malevolent.

A 2007 study on prison-life examined the potential relationship between participant self-selection and the disposition toward aggressive behaviors. They found that when responding to an advertisement, participants "were&nbsp;significantly higher on measures of aggressiveness, authoritarianism, [[Machiavellianism (psychology)|Machiavellianism]],&nbsp;narcissism,&nbsp;and&nbsp;social dominance than those who responded to a parallel ad that omitted the&nbsp;words 'of prison&nbsp;life,'&nbsp;and&nbsp;they&nbsp;were&nbsp;significantly lower in dispositional empathy and altruism".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carnahan |first1=Thomas |last2=McFarland |first2=Sam |date=May 2007 |title=Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: Could Participant Self-Selection Have Led to the Cruelty? |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167206292689 |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |language=en |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=603–614 |doi=10.1177/0146167206292689 |pmid=17440210 |s2cid=15946975 |issn=0146-1672|url-access=subscription }}</ref>