In this experiment, people are divided according to the principle of power. This refers to the so-called Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by the American psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971. In the experiment, student volunteers are divided into groups of “guards” and “prisoners” within an environment designed to simulate a prison. The guards wear uniforms and mirrored sunglasses, which prevent direct eye contact. They are not allowed to use physical force against the prisoners, but all other methods of instilling fear and creating a sense of total control over the prisoners’ lives are permitted.

As the experiment progresses, the guards increasingly internalize their roles and begin to invest personal attitudes and emotions into their actions toward the prisoners. The methods of degradation intensify; mockery and insults become personal, directed at specific individuals rather than at their role as prisoners, and the guards’ anger at the prisoners’ disobedience becomes entirely real. The prisoners, in turn, also internalize their roles as victims and gradually develop the psyche and behavior of traumatized individuals.

As the abuse inflicted by the guards on the prisoners escalates and spirals out of control, the experiment is terminated prematurely.

This experiment leads to the same conclusions as Stanley Milgram’s experiment. People invested with power and privilege internalize their roles and, in doing so, unleash the darker sides of human nature, using the opportunity to repress and degrade those under their control, even beyond the scope of their official authority. They begin to believe that they are right and that what they are doing is necessary. On the other hand, those subjected to degrading treatment undergo psychological changes toward passivity, submission, and obedience. The experiment demonstrates that people are extremely susceptible to the influence of ideology and hierarchical structures, even to the point of gross violations of human morality and moral sensibility.