SPE is an absolute mess as an experiment, and shouldn't really be regarded as science.
However, you really don't even have to go far so far into the technical details to find it to be flawed. The whole premise seems absurd to me.
You get some students, tell some of them to act like prison guards and the rest to act like prisoners, and then it's supposed to be surprising that they follow through on this?
"Well, we didn't expect them to be so sadistic!"
There's nothing I read that was more sadistic than a fairly typical hazing ritual. All participants knew this was ultimately voluntary and could quit at any time.
However, you really don't even have to go far so far into the technical details to find it to be flawed. The whole premise seems absurd to me.
You get some students, tell some of them to act like prison guards and the rest to act like prisoners, and then it's supposed to be surprising that they follow through on this?
"Well, we didn't expect them to be so sadistic!"
There's nothing I read that was more sadistic than a fairly typical hazing ritual. All participants knew this was ultimately voluntary and could quit at any time.