Final answer:
Philip Zimbardo's prison experiment illustrated the significant influence that social roles and norms have on human behavior, as evidenced by the extreme conformity observed in the Stanford Prison Experiment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Philip Zimbardo's prison experiment best illustrated the impact of social roles, social norms, and scripts on human behavior. The infamous Stanford Prison Experiment fundamentally demonstrated how these social forces can shape individual behaviors and interactions. The participants, who were college students randomly assigned to the roles of prisoners and guards, quickly conformed to their roles in extreme ways. The 'guards' enforced authoritarian measures and displayed cruel behavior, whereas the 'prisoners' submitted to the 'guards' and exhibited signs of distress and hopelessness. The experiment had to be terminated prematurely due to the unethical treatment and emotional trauma experienced by the prisoners. Zimbardo’s study has been heavily scrutinized over the years but continues to be a poignant example of the power that social settings and defined roles have on behavior.