The Experiment

Lore & Background

The findings of the study were very different from those of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Specifically, (a) there was no evidence of guards conforming 'naturally' to the role, and (b) in response to manipulations that served to increase a sense of shared identity amongst the prisoners, over time, they demonstrated increased resistance to the guards' regime. This culminated in a prison breakout on Day 6 of the study that made the regime unworkable.

After this, the participants created a 'self-governing commune' but this too collapsed due to internal tensions created by those who had organized the earlier breakout. After this, a group of former prisoners and guards conspired to install a new prisoner-guard regime in which they would be the 'new guards'. Now, however, they wanted to run the system along much harsher lines – akin to those seen in the Stanford study. Signs that this would compromise the well-being of participants led to early termination of the study.

Reader's Guide

The series depicts phases including arrival, creating social identity, the first test, cognitive dissonance, power play, and concluding the study. Key events include prisoners declining food offered out of guilt, a failed promotion attempt, and the eventual overthrow of guards leading to a harsher regime that forced early termination.

Did You Know?

• The study was led by psychologists Professor Alex Haslam and Professor Steve Reicher, who planned and designed the experiment with executive producer Nick Mirsky and producer Gaby Koppel of the BBC.
• The ethics committee had the power to stop The Experiment at any time if a majority felt participants were coming to harm; this power was used to end the study two days early.
• Philip Zimbardo criticized the series as reality television with no scientific value, while Haslam and Reicher argued their goal was to expose limitations in Zimbardo's theorizing and method.