Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Bachelor: A modern-day replication of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Bachelor Ben and his ladies.
In 1971 a group of Stanford researchers led by psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted what became a famous study of the power of  deindividuating situations. Within only six days, twenty-four seemingly normal, psychologically healthy participants were transformed into sadistic prison guards and dejected, emotionally unstable prisoners who came to voluntarily tolerate the abuse that was inflicted on them.

Thirty-one years later, the first episode of "The Bachelor" was aired on ABC. During the show, twenty-five single women compete for the affections of one man (with the reverse in "The Bachelorette") as they travel to scenic destinations, ride in lots of helicopters and boats, and enjoy lavish accommodations. What could the Stanford Prison Experiment possibility have to do with a fun, light-hearted reality show? A lot, it turns out.

1. The leaders. In the name of entertainment (or science), things sometimes go too far. Chris Harrison, The Bachelor's host, has controversially been known to let destructive situations (i.e., Bentley) take their course, rather than intervening on behalf of contestants or the bachelor/bachelorette. Similarly, Zimbardo was criticized for not intervening sooner when participants were clearly suffering psychological distress. Like his participants, he may have been caught up in the power of the situation. Zimbardo's girlfriend was the one to urge the researchers put a stop to the experiment, when she saw how inhumane the prisoners were being treated (no one has put a stop to the Bachelor yet).
Chris Harrison

Philip Zimbardo

2. The conditions. Both the Bachelor and the prison require contestants/participants to isolate themselves from trusted friends, family, and communities, temporarily giving up their usual identities and daily activities and finding themselves in an unfamiliar, disorienting setting. The Stanford prisoners were required to stay in small cells all day and night, while the contestants are confined to fancier suites, but still likely driven stir-crazy. As the contestants/participants become more and more disconnected from the outside world, they in turn become increasingly dependent on the norms and expectations of the new environment, which in both cases are clearly not the healthiest. From an outside perspective, it's hard to imagine why anyone would voluntarily stay in an environment that makes them so miserable. What we forget is that this new environment has quickly become their whole world, and they - understandably - want to succeed (or at least survive) in it.
a contestant
 a prisoner
3. The roles. Guard vs. prisoner roles were made explicit in the Stanford experiment, and participants easily fell into them, behaving in ways that they would never have otherwise behaved in their normal lives. From day one, Bachelor contestants also seem to fall into pre-determined roles, like the cruel, conniving woman who publicly derogates the other contestants, or the sweet, patient women who seem to truly have feelings for the Bachelor and are forced to watch him develop relationships with and later sleep with multiple other women. Then there are courageous ones who try to speak out about a perceived injustice, only to be shot down. Just as Bachelor contestant Emily was recently chastised for speaking out about another contestant's cruelty, a prisoner in the Stanford experiment who attempted to speak out against mistreatment was allegedly put into solitary confinement as a punishment (Not exactly the same thing, I know, but same idea).

Courtney

Prison Guard
4. The horror. Most importantly, the two "experiments" are similar in what they reveal about human nature, and it's not a pretty sight. We tell ourselves that we would never have behaved like that -- that some of the Stanford participants must have had a sadistic streak to begin with, or that the Bachelor contestants are all narcissists. But while it may be true that it takes a certain kind of person to apply for a reality show (or participate in a prison experiment), both do involve mental health screenings of would-be contestants/ participants, so the patterns of behavior that emerge cannot be totally written off as expressions of extreme personalities. As much as we may like to think of ourselves as strong, independent-minded, and basically decent people, we are also social beings who care deeply about social acceptance and status, even if that means sometimes acting in ways that are destructive to ourselves or to others. Recognizing this vulnerability, though unsettling, can help us avoid falling prey to dangerous forms of social influence.

Source

Further reading:

The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, Philip Zimbardo

Stanford Prison Experiment (youtube)

Miller, G. (2011). Using the Psychology of Evil To Do Good Science, 332 (6029), 530-532 DOI: 10.1126/science.332.6029.530

19 comments:

  1. I sometimes lament (jokingly) to my students that psychological researchers have to be ethical but reality tv producers get away with a lot. The Bachelor(ette) franchise definitely does everything it can to structure situations to create conflict and strong emotions. Nice post, Juli!

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    1. Thanks Sara! It's so true that reality shows don't have the same ethical constraints. There probably should be a review board for them too. I just came across this article on what would happen if reality shows had to go through an IRB: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1743
      Many of them probably would not be approved in their current form.

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  2. This article absolutely blew my mind! I must admit that I watch the Bachelor religiously. I am in a psychology class currently, and still none of these parallels crossed my mind! With the Bachelor or Bachelorette, I think it is quite important to realize that this may very well be unethical. The fact of the matter is, it sells! People want drama and that is what they get, even if it is doing more psychological damage to the men or women then the normal individual can observe. I do feel as if this is a vague situation and people probably watching don't realize the negative effects it has on the participants. Also, I think that the women (particular to the current season with Ben) may feel that they need to conform to the high demand of drama that some of the other women bring about. That might not be their normal personality, but they are happy to make themselves that person for extra airtime and because of the normative social influence or wanting to be liked and accepted by the other ladies.

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    1. I think you're absolutely right about the power of normative social influence on shows like this. We often don't realize how much what we see as our true personality is shaped by the people around us and the situations we find ourselves in - changing the environment so drastically can bring about bizarre changes, as in the case of Jenna who had a meltdown on the first night (though her friends from home said she's actually a pretty normal person in "real life"). Like the example you gave, I think there are a lot of interesting ways to apply social psychology to shows like this without necessarily making a connection to the Stanford Prison Experiment (a bit of a stretch, I'll admit!).

      Thanks for reading!

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    2. "People want drama and that is what they get, even if it is doing more psychological damage to the men or women then the normal individual can observe."

      Wow, I've never really thought of reality shows that way, but it rings very true. After all, what do reality shows sell if not entertainment? And what kind of entertainment but first and foremost, drama? Of human interaction and its following conflicts?

      The scary parallelism is, does it mean that we've reinvented the gladiatorial combats, but with psychological instead of physical ordeals? Hmm, that's a whole new can of worms about reality shows that I didn't think existed.

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  3. I was not completely aware of the Stanford Prison Experiment until recently doing a project in my Psychology class. After reading the material about the project, how it was set up, the feelings that were experienced by the participants, and their newly formed reality I can completely see why this show can be compared to that experiment. Unfortunately, in the name of research there are ethical boundaries that must be adhered to, but not for the sake of ratings for a TV show. This same similarities could be seen in the show Big Brother. The emotions and realities become true to the participants becasue they are continuously subjected to the situations, surroundings and people in their surroundings.

    It amazes me the range of emotions and personality changes that came about during my research of the Stanford Prison Experiment. I would suggest anyone thinking about joining a reality show that is going to seclude you from people and reality check into that study and determine if he/she really wants to be subjected to those feelings and emotions that are going to be envoked, for their own health and emotional well being.

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Sara! Those are all great points. It would be interesting to look into the consent processes of reality shows like Big Brother and The Bachelor - I wonder how much participants are told about the potential risks, or how much they believe that these risks might affect them personally. Also interesting would be to look at the longer-term consequences of participation for psychological health.

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  4. I love how you made such an obvious and yet very smart comparison between these situations, I've seen a movie about Zimbardo's experiment and after I read your post I felt I am watching the same movie in a different concept with "The Bachelor" except its more manipulating and hidden.
    this makes me confirm my believes that media could manipulate an entire nation and seed different ideas and believes in them.

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    1. Thanks Khalid, I'm glad you enjoyed the post! The media does seem to have the potential to shape our beliefs in unsettling ways. Watching The Bachelor, for example, might lead us to view love in more competitive terms, or to tolerate a significant others' philandering (the contestants are clearly not comfortable with their "boyfriend" seeing other women, but must accept it if they want to stay in the game).

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  5. Great post!!! Chris Harrison is horrible!

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  6. I've also noticed a streak of sadism in the Bachelor and other reality shows, in that contestants are often asked to do an activity that they have a phobia about. A woman has a fear of heights? You can bet she's the one who's going bungee jumping! Can't swim? She'll be on the sailing date. They must screen contestants about their phobias ahead of time so they can create the drama of someone being afraid and having the Bachelor coax her through the activity.

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    1. That is so true! I don't understand how they can get away with that - it's clearly not just a coincidence in many cases. I remember being especially disturbed when Emily Maynard had to go on a racetrack group date when her deceased husband was a racecar driver. I get that they want drama, but that's just messed up.

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  7. I just recently graduated with a degree in psychology and was very aware of the Zimbardo experiment. I watch the Bachelor religiously and I had never made the comparison. You are dead on. This article is so well written and you brought up many key point. It is sad that in the name of reality TV, anything goes. I was actually googling to see if Chris Harrison had any kind of Psychology Degree but as far as I could tell, he doesn't. How can they put these people in a mad house like this and not have anything in place for them for when the break downs occur? Thanks for the article. I will be sharing it.

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    1. Thanks Anonymous, I'm glad you enjoyed the post! I do wish they showed more sensitivity to mental health issues. If they're going to bring people into such an unnatural, stressful situation, the least they could do is have counselors on hand and turn the cameras off when people are seriously distressed. I could be wrong, but it seems like most viewers care more about the love stories that develop, and the tough decisions that the bachelor/ette must make, rather than the meltdowns and fights.

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  8. I am currently writing a paper for my communications ethics class about The Bachelor. We had freedom to choose any reality tv series. My idea is that The Bachelor unethically protrays love and furthers the idea of infidelity. Also, the fact that almost every couple in the "after the rose ceremony" episode is dealing with a break-up. If one out of 15+ couples is still together since the begining of the show how can the show continue to tell the viewers that these people are genuinely finding love. Does this sound right?
    I love the way you compared it to the Stanford Prison Experiment.

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    1. That sounds right to me! You'd think that with such a low relationship success rate, viewers would no longer buy the idea that most contestants are actually interested in finding love or have any faith that it will last. But sadly, I think people enjoy seeing the train wreck that inevitably ensues. I also agree that the show seems to promote a model of dating where it's okay to take multiple relationships almost to the point of engagement before choosing one, which in real life is very much not okay, unless you are in an openly polyamorous relationship. There are definitely lots of ethical issues going on with this show.

      Thanks for reading and good luck with the paper!

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  9. Ok, THIS is absolutely A-MAZING!!!!! We are obsessed w/ the Bachelor so much so we run a site called Okhereisthesituation all about Bachelor Situations. We are gonna have to post this as a situation! Please find us on Facebook and friend us!!! We love your in sight!!!

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  10. We would love to publish this on our site especially since you discuss the power of deindividuating situation!!! We will of course give you a link and full credit. Contact us at okhereisthesituation@gmail.com

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