Psychology in Film

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Theatrical poster for The Stanford Prison Experiment
Image rights: Copyrighted promotional artwork. Image source

The Stanford Prison Experiment

A 2015 drama starring Billy Crudup as Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo, depicting the 1971 study in which 24 student volunteers were assigned as prisoners and guards in a simulated jail.

2015. feature film, 122 minutes. Chronology period: 2015–present.

Feature filmRelease or archive checkedSocial influenceResearch ethics

Directed or created by
Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Country and language
United States
Trailer link
Trailer on YouTube (uploaded by Independent Film Company)YouTube watch page uploaded by Independent Film Company, checked 2026-10-23.
Content notes
Simulated prison setting and depiction of a psychological study.

Why this work matters for psychology

It invites questions about role assignment, institutional power, and what ethical safeguards research with human participants requires.

Psychological connections

Screen stories illustrate how psychological processes look and feel in narrative form; they are not empirical proof or clinical case studies.

  • Roles and Confinement

    The assignment of students to prisoner and guard roles opens discussion about how roles and settings might shape conduct, while avoiding any claim that roles inevitably determine behavior.

    Topic: Social influence, conformity and intergroup biasBasis: Grounded in the inspected IFC synopsis about 24 volunteers cast as prisoners and guards; framed as open discussion, not experimental proof.

  • A Study Retold

    A dramatized research setting invites questions about informed consent, oversight, and participant protection, without evaluating the historical experiment's validity.

    Topic: Experimentation, conditioning and institutional ethicsBasis: Grounded in the synopsis describing a college psych study; paired with the ethics reading.

Portrayal and accuracy limitations

  • The film is a dramatization with reported close involvement of Zimbardo; a drama cannot establish the scientific validity of the 1971 events or of claims about role effects.

Questions to watch for

  1. 1. How might assigning people to roles raise ethical questions for researchers?
  2. 2. What does a dramatized study leave open about how conduct and setting relate?

In the Psy101 course

OpenStax Section 2.4 supplies IRB, informed consent, and participant-protection concepts; a teaching question is what safeguards a modern study of role behavior would need, without treating the film as evidence.

Textbook links show where these concepts sit in an introductory course; they do not study this screen work. See the full topics and course map.

Companion readings and work source

Readings labeled as conceptual companions or contextual references study the psychological topic rather than this screen work.

  1. [1]
    Independent Film Company (IFC in Theaters LLC). (n.d.). The Stanford prison experiment | championing independent movies | independent film company. https://www.independentfilmco.com/films/the-stanford-prison-experimentChecked 2026-10-23.Release or archive checkedSelected official synopsis and catalog details inspected; full work not viewed.
  2. [2]
    Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/12-2-self-presentation(OpenStax course textbook · Selected passages checked · Checked 2026-10-23).Conceptual Companion (Does Not Study This Work)Conceptual companion: does not study this work. It investigates the underlying psychological construct or textbook topic.Introduces social roles and norms and includes discussion of methodological criticisms; it does not study the film.Note: Selected textbook material inspected at the stated access scope. Conceptual companion; it does not study or validate this screen work.
  3. [3]
    Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/2-4-ethics(OpenStax course textbook · Selected passages checked · Checked 2026-10-23).Conceptual Companion (Does Not Study This Work)Conceptual companion: does not study this work. It investigates the underlying psychological construct or textbook topic.Introduces IRBs, informed consent, and debriefing; it does not study the film.Note: Selected textbook material inspected at the stated access scope. Conceptual companion; it does not study or validate this screen work.
  4. [4]
    Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/12-4-conformity-compliance-and-obedience(OpenStax course textbook · Selected passages checked · Checked 2026-10-23).Conceptual Companion (Does Not Study This Work)Conceptual companion: does not study this work. It investigates the underlying psychological construct or textbook topic.Covers conformity, compliance, and obedience to authority; it does not study the film.Note: Selected textbook material inspected at the stated access scope. Conceptual companion; it does not study or validate this screen work.