Question

Which statement best supports Zimbardo’s belief that people are not born “good” or “evil”?

Answer 1

Read "What makes good people do bad things?", by MELISSA DITTMANN

Which statement best supports Zimbardo’s belief that people are not born “good” or “evil”?

A . “‘Any of us can move across it... I argue that we all have the capacity for love and evil — to be Mother Theresa, to be Hitler or Saddam Hussein.’” ( Paragraph 3)

B . “In one condition, they overheard an assistant calling the other students ‘animals’ and in another condition, ‘nice.’” ( Paragraph 8)

C . “The same social psychological processes… that acted in the Stanford Prison Experiment were at play at Abu Ghraib, Zimbardo argued.” ( Paragraph 16)

D . “As such, the Abu Ghraib soldiers' mental state… may have further contributed to their ‘evil’ actions, he noted.” ( Paragraph 18)

Answer: A . “‘Any of us can move across it... I argue that we all have the capacity for love and evil — to be Mother Theresa, to be Hitler or Saddam Hussein.’” ( Paragraph 3)

Explanation:

Zimbardo claims that the line between good and evil is permeable, meaning that people are not born “good” or “evil”. On the contrary, everyone can cross that line, especially under certain circumstances. For example, the soldiers´ mental state and the lack of supervision, training, or accountability led to the abuse of an Iraqi prisoner in Abu Ghraib.