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Zimbardo, in his study of college students who were either prisoners or guards in a simulated prison, concluded that the participants felt compelled to act consistently with their roles. a.true b.false

User Rockeye
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Final answer:

Zimbardo's study concluded that participants felt compelled to act in ways consistent with their assigned roles as prisoners or guards, highlighting the influence of roles and social context on behavior. The experiment was terminated early due to the intense psychological impact on participants.

Step-by-step explanation:

The conclusion of Phillip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment is indeed that the participants felt compelled to act consistently with their roles as prisoners or guards. This study demonstrated the influence of established roles and social situations on individual behavior. Participants who were college students were randomly assigned to either a prisoner or guard role. They quickly embodied their roles to such an extent that the experiment had to be terminated after just six days due to ethical concerns and the negative psychological effects on the participants. The study highlighted the ease with which ordinary people could conform to the social roles they are given, especially within structured power dynamics. Questions concerning the validity of the experiment have arisen, including whether participants were coached on how to act, but the initial findings still serve as an important demonstration of the power of situational factors over individual character.

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Final answer:

The Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo demonstrated that participants felt compelled to act consistently with their roles as either prisoners or guards in a simulated prison.

Step-by-step explanation:

Philip Zimbardo, a psychologist at Stanford University, conducted the famous Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971. The study involved college students who were randomly assigned to play the roles of either prisoners or guards in a simulated prison. Zimbardo found that the participants felt compelled to act consistently with their assigned roles, and the experiment was ended after 6 days due to the deteriorating behavior of the participants.

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