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The researchers who conducted the Stanford prison simulation believed that the participants designated as guards acted harshly toward those designated as prisoners because the:

1) guards were all male
2) guards responded to situational factors
3) guards had negative personality factors
4) prisoners had negative personality factors
5) prisoners were young

Answer :

"The correct option is 2) because the most accurate conclusion from the Stanford prison experiment is that the guards' behavior was a result of the situational factors to which they were exposed during the simulation."

The Stanford prison experiment, conducted by Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues in 1971, was designed to study the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard.

The researchers found that the participants who were assigned the role of guards began to act in ways that were harsh and authoritarian toward the prisoners.

This behavior was not due to inherent personality traits of the guards, as the participants were randomly assigned to their roles. Instead, the behavior was a response to the situational factors of the prison environment, which included the roles, rules, and norms that were established as part of the experiment.

The findings suggest that the situation, rather than individual dispositions, can have a powerful influence on behavior.

The guards' behavior was not primarily determined by their gender (option 1), as both men and women can exhibit authoritarian behavior under certain circumstances.

Similarly, the guards' behavior was not due to negative personality factors (option 3), as there was no evidence to suggest that the participants had such traits prior to the experiment.

The negative personality factors of the prisoners (option 4) would not explain why the guards acted harshly, nor would the age of the prisoners (option 5), as the guards' behavior was a response to their roles and the environment they were in, not the characteristics of the prisoners.

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Rewritten by : Barada

Final answer:

The guards in the Stanford prison experiment acted harshly toward the prisoners because option 2) guards responded to situational factors.

Explanation:

The researchers who conducted the Stanford prison simulation believed that the participants designated as guards acted harshly toward those designated as prisoners because the option 2) guards responded to situational factors.

During the experiment, the guards were placed in a position of power and given authority over the prisoners. This situational factor, combined with the absence of clear guidelines on how to treat the prisoners, contributed to the guards' adoption of harsh and abusive behavior.

The guards, who were chosen from a pool of mentally and emotionally stable male college students, began to adopt aggressive and authoritarian behaviors as a result of the situational context rather than any inherent negative personality traits or the characteristics of the prisoners themselves.

Additionally, the social norms and expectations associated with the role of a prison guard, as well as the scripted behaviors learned from common cultural portrayals of guards, may have influenced the guards' actions.