Stanford Prison Experiment

Window	Event Pressure	Psychological Shift
0-12h	Role assignment, group identity, public humiliation, strip searches	Guards gain initial power; prisoners lose agency and start to self-objectify
12-24h	Rules enforced, punishments, dominance displays	Aggression rises in guard subgroup; early prisoner resistance emerges
24-36h	Rebellion crushed, ringleaders isolated, peer rejection spreads	Prisoner solidarity collapses; humiliation and conflict become chronic
36-48h	Sleep deprivation, toilet denial, bystander guards feel conflict	Abuse normalizes; passive guards show internal stress without overt aggression
48-72h	Prisoner breakdown, shaming rituals, escalating degradation	Dominance and valence crater in early casualties; guard in-group reinforcement
72-120h	Isolation, hunger strike, forced choices, peak humiliation	Hopelessness and loneliness spike; guard dominance peaks, empathy falls
120-144h	Final abuse wave before termination	System locked into pathological state; experiment ends day 6

End-State Assertions (Hour 144)

assert!(
    alpha_aggression_final > alpha_aggression_initial + 0.15,
    "Guard Alpha's aggression should spike dramatically"
);
assert!(
    alpha_empathy_final < alpha_empathy_initial - 0.10,
    "Guard Alpha's empathy should crater"
);
assert!(
    delta_valence_final < delta_valence_initial,
    "Guard Delta shows lower mood valence from internal conflict"
);
assert!(
    p8612_affect_final.dominance_effective()
        < p8612_affect_initial.dominance_effective() - 0.30,
    "Prisoner #8612's dominance should collapse"
);
assert!(
    p819_social_final.loneliness_effective()
        > p819_social_initial.loneliness_effective() + 0.20,
    "Prisoner #819's loneliness should surge"
);
assert!(
    p416_disposition_final.reactance_effective()
        > p416_disposition_initial.reactance_effective() + 0.10,
    "Prisoner #416's reactance should increase"
);
assert!(
    alpha_disposition_48h.aggression_effective()
        > alpha_disposition_initial.aggression_effective() + 0.10,
    "Guard Alpha's aggression should spike within 48 hours"
);
assert!(
    p8612_affect_48h.dominance_effective()
        < p8612_affect_initial.dominance_effective() - 0.15,
    "Prisoner #8612's dominance should crater within 48 hours"
);