Zimbardo and the Nature of Evil

Zimbardo and the Nature of Evil.
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Nature of Evil
Zimbardo argued that human anonymity, conformity, and boredom trigger sadistic and antisocial behaviors in his study. He selected random students to act as guards and prisoners in a mock prison at Stanford University (Dreifus, 2007). There was a rebellion by the prisoners, torture by guards, and a near-death situation. Also, Zimbardo used humans as a specimen in his experiment.
He argued that a bad environment or situation could turn good individuals into bad people. For example, the guards in the mock prison were not bad people, but boredom in their environment allowed them to Condon destructive behaviors such as sodomy. Also, the dire situation in Abu Ghraib prison corrupted Fredrick, a good guard, into becoming a monster. In addi...