Philip Zimbardo, a psychologist whose research studied how social situations shape human behavior and is known for the Stanford Prison Experiment, has died at the age of 91, according to the Stanford University's Stanford Report, UNN reports.
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"Philip Zimbardo, one of the most famous psychologists in the world, died on October 14 at his home in San Francisco. He was 91 years old," the statement said.
In general, Zimbardo's research examined how the environment influences behavior. He is best known for his controversial 1971 study, the Stanford Prison Experiment, with W. Curtis Banks, Craig Gainey, and David Jaffe.
A study aimed at examining the psychological experience of imprisonment revealed the shocking extent to which circumstances can alter individual behavior. To this day, it is used as a case study in psychology classes to highlight both the psychology of evil and the ethics of conducting psychological research with people.
However, Zimbardo's research has gone far beyond the prison experiment. In a career spanning more than five decades, Zimbardo has explored topics such as persuasion, attitude change, cognitive dissonance, hypnosis, cults, alienation, shyness, time perspective, altruism, and compassion.
"Phil Zimbardo is one of the most prolific and influential psychologists of his generation-a true pioneer in the field of social psychology," said Claude Steele, Lucy Stern Professor of Social Science and Professor Emeritus of Psychology. - "Almost all of Phil's research shows how important phenomena of real human behavior can be studied scientifically. For such a young science as social psychology, this was a particularly important contribution.