The Stanford prison experiment – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

Netflix’s the New Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) remains one of the most infamous studies in the field. Contemporary research has questioned the scientific legitimacy of the research design of the SPE. The SPE continues to capture the imagination of the public. Does a reality television reimagining of The SPE have anything meaningful to contribute? I imagine my skeptical and slightly horrified reaction when I heard about Netflix’s attempt to replicate Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment from the 1970s was similar to that of many other social psychologists and academics. In fact, a fellow grad student—and dear friend—from my doctorate program was the one who alerted me to the release of this new show, and we exchanged a series of predictable messages bemoaning the lack of scientific viability behind such an attempt. ….[READ]