What did Zimbardo's study highlight about social roles?

Zimbardo's study, particularly the Stanford prison experiment, vividly highlighted how social roles can significantly alter individual behavior. In this experiment, participants were assigned roles as either guards or prisoners, and their behaviors transformed dramatically in response to these roles. The guards displayed authoritarian and abusive behaviors, while the prisoners became passive and submissive. This drastic change in behavior illustrates the powerful influence that social roles and situational factors can have on individual actions and psychology.

The findings underscore that when individuals adopt roles within a structured environment, like a prison context in this case, they may conform to the expectations and norms associated with those roles, which can lead to behavior that starkly differs from their typical conduct. This reveals the extent to which social context and perceived authority can shape people's actions, challenging the notion of inherent traits or characteristics guiding behavior.