One of Zimbardo's biggest problems in the experiment may well have began even before day one.

 

His biggest problem was the fact that he was blinded by his own goals in the experiment and his own predictions of those interests. As demonstrated in the interview, Zimbardo was clearly focused entirely on the guards. He wanted to show that men would become evil if presented with the right situation. He was deeply passionate about personality and showing that it was almost entirely reliant on an individual's environment. It is because of this that Zimbardo ignored any other significant results. He failed to notice, or find interesting, the prisoners' story. 

 

Zimbardo was also hindered, not only because of his interest in the guards, but because he was so narrowed in on personality psychology that he was oblivious to other disciplines. He would not have noticed or cared as much about findings important in clinical or developmental psychology. 

 

Another problem with having expectations is that those can be consciously, or unconsciously, projected onto participants, which would influence how they behaved. They would inherently act more like what was expected, whether by conscious choice or through unconscious signals. 

 

This is a problem still common in psychology, and most research today. It is normal, even necessary, for researchers to make hypotheses before beginning the experiment. It seems almost impossible to do it any other way. However, as I recently learned, anthropologists do it all the time. They go into a community and, only after observing and seeing what is important, do they make questions and hypotheses. 

 

Although, it may not be possible for psychology researchers to do this, they should remember to keep an open mind and analyze all aspects of their results for significant findings. If Zimbardo had done this, he may have been able to gain back some of the respect he lost in his conducting of this experiment.