Power of the Situation
What power can turn a pacifist student into a sadistic guard? Why would an ordinary law abiding man give potentially lethal shocks to a stranger? How can a persons eyesight be improved by simply changing the situation in which it's measured?
Most of psychology focuses on the individual. How an individual, taken alone, behaves, thinks or feels. But social psychology tries to understand human behavior within its broader, social context. Social psychologists look at all the ways in which people are influenced by other people. We need other people to survive and to reach our full potential. This documentary is all about human behavior in the context of social psychology: The power of the situation. It also examines how beliefs and behavior can be influenced and manipulated by other people and subtle situational forces.
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comment #2885 Jo
I would feel more inclined to appreciate what is being said if only the man presenting wasn't so infuriating. The amount of times he has presented Nazism as a description of facism instead of the other way round both frustrates and disheartens me. However, when considering the documentary as a whole, it is somewhat acceptable and I've at least learnt something.
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