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Philip Zimbardo, psychologist behind the 'Stanford Prison Experiment' dies at 91
Philip Zimbardo, the Stanford psychologist whose research examined how social situations shape people’s behavior, died Oct. 14.
In a career that spanned overfive decades, Zimbardo examined topics including persuasion, attitude change, cognitive dissonance,hypnosis, cults, alienation, shyness, time perspective, altruism, and compassion. Zimbardo’s pursuit of understanding how external forces shape human behavior led him to also explore mind control and the appeal of cults, including the Peoples Temple and its leader Jim Jones, who orchestrated what is now known as the Jonestown Massacre. He believed that inside everyone there exists an “ordinary hero.” In a 2006 news article Zimbardo co-authored with Zeno Franco, he asked: “Is it also possible that heroic acts are something that anyone can perform, given the right mindset and conditions?”
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