Philip Zimbardo
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| Philip Zimbardo | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 23, 1933 |
| Occupation | Psychologist Author, Psychology and Life Professor, New York University Professor, Stanford University President emeritus, American Psychological Association Founder, The Shyness Clinic |
Philip G. Zimbardo (born March 23, 1933) is an American psychologist, best known for his Stanford prison experiment and bestselling introductions to psychology.
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[edit] Early life and education
Zimbardo was born to Sicilian parents, George Zimbardo and Margaret Bisicchia, grew up in New York City, in the South Bronx, and went to Monroe High School with his later colleague in psychological research, Stanley Milgram. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College, and both his Master's degree and Ph.D. from Yale University.
[edit] Professor
After teaching intensively at New York University, in 1968 he accepted a tenured position as professor of psychology at Stanford University. There he conducted the famed Stanford prison experiment, in which 24 normal college students were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards in a mock prison located in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford (3 additional college students were selected as alternates, but did not participate in the experiment). The students quickly began acting out their roles, with "guards" becoming sadistic and the "prisoners" showing extreme depression and passivity.
Though planned to last for an entire two weeks, the experiment had to be terminated after only six days when graduate student Christina Maslach, then Zimbardo's girlfriend, watched live video feed of the experiment from his office and insisted the experiment be stopped. (Maslach has since married Zimbardo and is now a psychology professor at UC Berkeley.) The experiment led to theories about the importance of the social situation in individual psychology that are still controversial today.
Zimbardo is currently an Associate Professor at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, where he teaches Social Psychology to doctoral students in the Clinical Psychology program.
[edit] Final Lecture
Zimbardo, who officially retired in 2003, gave his final lecture on Wednesday March 7, 2007, on the Stanford campus, bringing his teaching career of fifty years to a close. David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, called Zimbardo "a legendary teacher", saying that "he has changed the way we think about social influences." [1]
[edit] Opens clinic
After the experiment, Zimbardo turned to look for ways he could use psychology to help people and ended up founding The Shyness Clinic in Menlo Park, California, which treats shy behavior in adults and children. Zimbardo's research on shyness also led him to write several bestselling books on the topic.
[edit] Author
Zimbardo is also the co-author with Richard Gerrig, a cognitive psychology professor at Stony Brook University of an introductory Psychology textbook, Psychology and Life, which is used in many American undergraduate psychology courses. He also hosted a PBS TV series titled Discovering Psychology which is used in many college telecourses and can be watched at [1].
Other subjects he researches are mind control and cultic behavior. [2]
[edit] Recent career
In 2002, Zimbardo was elected president of the American Psychological Association. Under his direction, the organization developed the website PsychologyMatters.org, a compendium of psychological research that has applications for everyday life. Also that year, he appeared in the British reality television show, The Human Zoo. Participants were observed inside a controlled setting while Zimbardo and a British psychologist analyzed their behavior.
Zimbardo retired from Stanford in November 2003, but still returns each Winter to teach his highly popular course, "Exploring Human Nature", a sort of "greatest hits" of his favorite topics.
In 2004, Zimbardo testified for the defense in the court martial of Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick, a guard at Abu Ghraib prison. He argued that Frederick's sentence should be lessened due to mitigating circumstances, explaining that few individuals can resist the powerful situational pressures of a prison, particularly without proper training and supervision. The judge apparently disregarded Zimbardo's testimony, and gave Frederick the maximum 8-year sentence.
Zimbardo drew on the knowledge he gained from his participation in the Frederick case to write a new book entitled, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, about the connections between Abu Ghraib and the prison experiments.[2]
[edit] Awards
- In 2003, Zimbardo, Gian Vittorio Caprara and Claudio Barbaranelli of the University of Rome La Sapienza were awarded the Ig Nobel Award for Psychology [3] "for their discerning report 'Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities.'"[4]
- In 2005, Zimbardo received the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation Vision 97 Award in Prague.
[edit] Works
- Influencing attitude and changing behavior;: A basic introduction to relevant methodology, theory, and applications (Topics in social psychology), Addison Wesley, 1969
- The Cognitive Control of Motivation. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1969
- Stanford prison experiment: A simulation study of the psychology of imprisonment, Philip G. Zimbardo, Inc., 1972
- The psychology of imprisonment: privation, power and pathology, Stanford University, 1972
- Influencing Attitudes and Changing Behavior. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Publishing Co., 1969, ISBN 0-07-554809-7
- Canvassing for Peace: A Manual for Volunteers. Ann Arbor, MI: Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 1970, ISBN
- Influencing Attitudes and Changing Behavior (2nd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison Wesley., 1977, ISBN
- Cults go to high school: A theoretical and empirical analysis of the initial stage in the recruitment process, American Family Foundation, 1985
- Shyness: What It Is, What to Do About It, Addison Wesley, 1990, ISBN 0-201-55018-0
- The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991, ISBN 0-87722-852-3
- Psychology (3rd Edition), Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Publishing Co., 1999, ISBN 0-321-03432-5
- The Shy Child : Overcoming and Preventing Shyness from Infancy to Adulthood, Malor Books, 1999, ISBN 1-883536-21-9
- Violence Workers: Police Torturers and Murderers Reconstruct Brazilian Atrocities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002, ISBN 0-520-23447-2
- Psychology - Core Concepts, 5/e, Allyn & Bacon Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0-205-47445-4
- Psychology And Life, 17/e, Allyn & Bacon Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0-205-41799-X
- The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, Random House, New York, 2007
[edit] References
Stanford Prison Experiment Website [3]
Quiet Rage: The Stanford Prison Experiment (DVD)
- ^ http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-3-8-03-08-07-pa-zimbardo
- ^ What messages are behind today's cults?, APA Monitor, May 1997
- ^ A simple choice, The Guardian, April 19, 2005
- ^ Politicians' uniquely simple personalities, Nature, February 6, 1997
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Zimbardo's official website
- Website for The Lucifer Effect
- "Exploring Human Nature" website
- Official website of Stanford prison experiment
- Summary and evaluation of the Stanford prison experiment
- The Shyness Clinic
- Philip Zimbardo on Democracy Now! March 30 2007
