What does the Stanford prison study tell us about the relationship between social roles and behavior?

A) People who are naturally aggressive and authoritarian seek out social roles that allow them to behave in this way.
B) "Good" people will refuse to behave according to the norms of a social role if they are required to be harsh or abusive to other people.
C) When people are placed in social roles with a lot of power, their behavior often changes to fit their new role.
D) Inmates naturally take on different social roles in a prison, with some becoming aggressive and authoritarian, while others become passive and submissive.

Answer: C
Rationale: In the Stanford Prison Study, student participants were randomly assigned to be either prisoners or guards. Despite their inherent similarities to the prisoners, the guards either became brutal and callous or simply stood by while others did the dirty work. At the same time, most prisoners acquiesced and passively accepted the brutal treatment. This indicates that randomly placing individuals in a powerful social role can have a dramatic effect on their behavior.