Big Brother and the Stanford Prison Study

Any television reality show is somewhat similar to the Stanford Prison Study; perhaps not in terms of how the study was conducted, nor in the violent, tormenting, degrading and humiliating activities that the prisoners in the study have experienced, but in Philip Zimbardo's conclusion that: drastically changing one's environment and situation does have significant influence on the person's behavior; merely showing the fact that people sometimes literally assume and perceive their role in any situation and bound to make emotional responses to their perception.

Let's take as an example the reality show: "Big Bother" where people from different walks of life meet together and live with each other for a number of days. This show makes a prisoner of the participants because they are not allowed to get out of the "house" nor have access on anything that's happening outside, though they may be given all the comfort that the house can offer. Inside, they assume different roles, different from what they're accustomed with, different from what they normally do and perform outside; and sometimes, the transition generates various results, both positive and negative to these people's lives.

Just like the Stanford Prison Study, the "subjects" in this show discover a lot of things about themselves in the whole duration of the show. Some, who were given the authority to lead over the group, loved the power and supremacy that has been given to them that they tend to abuse by ordering and bossing their "housemates" around. Some discovered that they have the "push-over" tendency, allowing others to publicly treat them like slaves, following orders without complains, while others tend to go against the "authority" and do things beyond the "house rules" to portray their rebellion. Some even experience emotional breakdowns that "Big Brother" is forced to evict them from the house.

This reality show is but a proof that if people are put in a constraint and limited environment and that they get to assume roles different from their daily routines; they will become "infected" and "heavily affected" by their exposure to the situation.