Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 373 The Stanford Prison Experiment [4,000-word combined chapter]

Zhang Zihao gave himself a very decisive score for his emotions.

Nan Zhuren gave everyone two minutes to feel their own emotions.

In this situation, Zhang Zihao's decisiveness was undoubtedly a form of defense.

There is a defense mechanism for one's own emotions, a defense mechanism for the current group support, and possibly a defense mechanism for Nan Zhuren.

Nan Zhuren's gaze swept across the students present, and he noticed that there were two other people who had a similar reaction to Zhang Zihao.

The first student who reacted similarly to Zhang Zihao also started writing immediately, and then began to space out, seemingly lost in thought.

The second student, who reacted similarly to Zhang Zihao, first looked around at all his classmates, noticing their varied reactions, especially after seeing Zhang Zihao's actions, and then met Nan Zhuren's gaze. Only then did he sheepishly write down a number on his A4 paper.

Nan Zhuren remembered the reactions of three students: Zhang Zihao, Zhang Zihao No. 1, and Zhang Zihao No. 2, as well as their seats.

After waiting for about thirty seconds, the students had mostly written down their emotional scores. But Nan Zhuren waited a little longer to give them ample time to organize their thoughts and prepare for the sharing session.

Two minutes were up, and Nan Zhuren spoke on time: "Okay, I see that everyone has already written down their emotional scores and has been thinking for a while."

"Which student would like to share first?"

There was a brief silence. Some people lowered their heads to avoid eye contact, some looked around cautiously to test the others, and some kept their heads down while looking around cautiously to test the others.

"I'll go first." After hesitating for a moment, Lin Junkai raised his hand first, and after seeing Nan Zhuren nod slightly, he said, "I gave myself a score of [6]."

"Actually, my mood hasn't been very good lately, probably around 3 or even 2. But I recently had a pretty thorough self-examination and figured out a lot of things, so I gave myself a relatively positive score."

In the emotional spectrum system of [1] to [10] points given by Nan Zhuren, [5] points and [6] points are considered the watershed.

[5] points means "somewhat painful", [6] points means "somewhat happy".

The two scores represent the point of emotional transition, and also the minimum levels of negative and positive emotions.

After Lin Junkai finished speaking, Nan Zhuren saw that the two students, Lei Hao Yi and Lei Hao Er, stared blankly into the air in front of them after hearing Lin Junkai's words.

It's clear that they've entered into a certain level of thinking.

Nan Zhuren nodded inwardly at this situation.

On the one hand, Lin Junkai, the teenager who was once filled with guilt and anxiety, has clearly reached a certain degree of reconciliation with himself after confronting Wang Rui.

Nan Zhuren was genuinely pleased about this.

On the other hand, Lin Junkai spoke first during the group counseling session, which helped to break the ice; at the same time, as a highly developed individual, he expressed his own growth, which also inspired others in the group to think.

In a one-on-one consultation, it would take a lot of effort just to break down the defenses of students like Leihao No. 1 and Leihao No. 2.

With Lin Junkai, a high-achieving role model, present in the group counseling sessions, a single sentence of sharing is enough to prompt them to engage in further reflection.

This is also one of the greatest benefits of group counseling.

Therefore, counselors sometimes carefully select and consider the group counseling members.

Just a pity.

Zhang Zihao was not infected by Lin Junkai.

Nan Zhuren looked at the student sitting directly opposite him.

Cross your arms over your chest and pull up your upper eyelids.

[Tighten and lift one corner of the mouth.]

Oh, and she even rolled her eyes.

The obvious contempt was directed at Karry Lin.

Nan Zhuren kept this reaction in mind.

Group counseling continues.

After waiting for two breaths.

Li Mingchen picked up where Lin Junkai left off and answered second: "I would give myself a score of 5. Actually, my emotional score was even lower a while ago, but recently I got rid of some things, and maybe because I'm not in a hurry to take the exam, my mood has improved - so it's 5."

He has grown, but unfortunately, he's not as good as Lin Junkai, who directly confronted Wang Rui.

However, considering that Li Mingchen was capable of internal strife to the point of developing anxiety disorder and anorexia nervosa, and even fell before Xu Pengcheng, this is a different story.

It's quite gratifying that they've grown to this point.

The third speaker was a student with thick bangs who was involved in the incident: "I also gave myself a score of 5. Because of some things—I think everyone knows what they are. Anyway, I feel a little better recently, but overall I'm still feeling bad."

……

After the three students finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment, and the flow of the speeches was not as smooth.

After taking nearly five deep breaths, Nan Zhuren was ready to begin taking charge of the group counseling and hosting duties.

“I’d give myself a 6 out of 10,” Zhang Zihao suddenly broke the silence.

He made brief eye contact with Nan Zhuren while speaking, crossed his arms and hunched his back, and spoke very concisely.

"There's no specific reason, it's just that I've been feeling this way lately."

Zhang Zihao took the lead and set an example. The two students, Leihao No. 1 and Leihao No. 2, also chose the same answer, and they gave themselves an emotion score of 5 and 6 points respectively.

They were all very simple, but Nan Zhuren still said, "Very good, thank you for sharing."

Then a few more breaths passed.

This time, the student sitting to the left of Teacher Zhao was the one who connected with her.

I gave myself a score of 3 out of 10.

When Zhao Zuo was announcing his score, he briefly touched Nan Zhuren, then quickly looked away, his gaze fixed on the floor in the center.

"I'm just feeling down. I've been having a hard time studying lately, my grades aren't improving, and I'm exhausted from training every day. And... as everyone knows, I just feel like nothing's right, so I'm feeling pretty down."

Then, every two or three breaths, a student would look around to make sure no one wanted to take their turn speaking, and then speak in turn.

Their emotional spectrum scores were 3, 5, and 4 respectively.

From then on, the students in front of me could be roughly divided into three categories.

One type is Lin Junkai and Li Mingchen. They were the first to realize the truth and actively engaged in the process of confronting Wang Rui, achieving a certain degree of redemptive self-growth. Their overall emotions were neutral.

Another group consists of three students, represented by Zhang Zihao. They did not reflect on their own feelings before writing down their scores, and when sharing their emotions, they barely revealed anything and were very perfunctory. As a result, it is difficult to judge their specific emotional state.

The last category is represented by students with thick bangs and sitting on the left side of Zhao's seat. Yes, although the student with thick bangs spoke very early, his situation is different from Lin Junkai and the others. He belongs to the last category.

These students were involved in Wang Rui's case in little to no way, and their overall sentiment was negative.

...At this point, the second phase of group counseling has temporarily come to an end.

If the first phase is about laying a solid foundation for the team, then the second phase is about paving the way for formal coaching in the future.

In this stage, students are first asked to write down their current emotional score, which is a very simple self-test for their psychology.

There will be a callback after the group counseling session ends.

Nan Zhuren was eager to see how the students' emotional scores would change after receiving group counseling—especially Zhang Zihao.

This principle can be seen as a practical application of the "pre-test data" and "post-test data" sections of "Experimental Psychology".

At the same time, during this stage, Zhang Zihao and Li Mingchen also brought the three students, including Zhang Zihao, into the situation to some extent.

In a one-on-one consultation, a typical therapist might need one or two sessions to achieve the same effect.

It only took less than ten minutes.

The real show begins in the third stage.

……

The third stage – targeted analysis.

Before deciding to intervene with these students through group counseling, Nan Zhuren was actually a little troubled—

—Because although the ten students present experienced the same event, the changes they were affected by were almost inversely related.

Are there any intervention methods that can have a positive impact on both groups of students at the same time?
some.

Nan Zhuren tilted his head to signal to Teacher Zhao, and the team's support player immediately understood.

She took out a remote control and pressed a button.

"drop--"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the projector in the activity room suddenly light up, displaying the beginning of a video file on the screen.

The title of this video was prominently displayed in the eyes of all the students—

"The Stanford Prison Experiment"

"Next, we will study a short video lesson entitled 'The Stanford Prison Experiment'."

Nan Zhuren said, "This is a large-scale psychology experiment conducted by Stanford University professor Philip Zimbardo in 1971. What we are playing now is the original documentary footage of the experiment."

"Because it's the original footage, there are no subtitles, so I will provide real-time commentary."

Psychological experiments, Stanford University, USA, documentary.

After a few keywords, even Zhang Zihao and the other two students showed interest.

Nan Zhuren believes that the emotional scores of the students present have risen slightly at this moment.

"Okay, while we're watching the video, please feel free to adjust your seats a bit—"

Due to limitations in the activity room's facilities, the projector is located in a corner of the room, rather than in the center where everyone is sitting.

Nan Zhuren gestured with his hand to make a "turn around" gesture.

The sound of a chair moving immediately rang out.

These students, at this moment, are unaware of what they are about to see.

……

A professor, dressed in a well-tailored suit and tie, with a meticulously groomed beard and medium-length curly hair, appeared on the screen first.

The professor was surrounded by young people, chatting and laughing with them in a friendly atmosphere.

In 1971, in order to explore how social environment and power structure affect individual psychology and behavior, Professor Zimbardo recruited 24 male college students as volunteers for an experiment at a rate of $15 per day.

Nan Zhuren's voice was calm and slow.

"They transformed the basement of Stanford University's psychology department into a mock prison, complete with three cells, solitary confinement cells, and surveillance equipment."

"The 24 volunteers were randomly assigned roles: 9 'prison guards,' 9 'prisoners,' and 6 'reserve'."

Nan Zhuren looked at the students, and each of them stared intently, their faces filled with curiosity.

The video then redirects.

Men in police uniforms knocked on the door of a house, dragged a bewildered young man out without explanation, forced him into a police car, handcuffed him behind his back, and put him inside. The confused neighbors came out to inquire and began to discuss the incident.

"To create a sense of realism, the professor hired real police officers to carry out the arrests. Only after the volunteers got into the car were they informed that this was part of an experiment, and that the participants had to cooperate in order for the experiment to proceed smoothly and for the $15 a day reward."

One by one, young people were blindfolded and led into the prison, stripped naked, their bodies doused with powder, then dressed in prison uniforms and taken into their cells.

“Besides the realism of the ‘arrest’ process, the ‘imprisonment’ process was almost a complete replica of reality. After being ‘arrested,’ the volunteers were required to strip naked, sprayed with lice-repellent powder, put on numbered cotton prison uniforms without underwear, and put on shackles.”

"These are volunteers who were prisoners."

"The volunteer prison guards read aloud the Prison Management Regulations to them, including the rule that prisoners must obey prison guards unconditionally."

"These things happened on the morning and noon of the first day of the experiment."

"The experiment will officially begin this afternoon."

The video then redirects.

[In the prison, a piercing whistle suddenly sounded, and one by one, the sleeping prisoners groggily got up. A fierce-looking prison guard stormed into the cells.]

The prisoners stood facing the wall, hands clasped against it, while guards patrolled behind them with batons.

The prison guards were shouting something, but the prisoners ignored them and whispered among themselves.

One of them spoke up and argued with the prison guard.

At this point, a voice that seemed to be narrating appeared in the video, but because it was all in English, the students couldn't understand it.

Nan Zhuren explained in real time.

“At 2:30 a.m., the prison guards repeatedly woke up the prisoners under the pretext of ‘counting the number of people’ and forced them to report their numbers. Some prison volunteer prisoners did not cooperate.”

"To establish their authority, the guards ordered prisoners to do push-ups and stomped on their backs."

At this point, Nan Zhuren pointed to the video.

“The quote in the video is a prison guard’s own account in a post-incident interview. He said, ‘At first it seemed ridiculous, but the professor tacitly approved of what we were doing; and when the prisoners actually cooperated with us, and my colleagues were with us, I really felt the power.’”

As Nan Zhuren spoke, he scanned the students' expressions once again.

(End of this chapter)