How to Make a Hero

[Music] Stanford University 1973, professor Philip Zimbardo conducts one of the most infamous experiments in the history of psychology, known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. This dark study of human behavior had student volunteers acting out the roles of prison guards and inmates. But the role-playing soon became all too real. Subjects in the role of prison guards became domineering and hostile; those in the role of inmates felt humiliation and fear. The experiment was scheduled to last two weeks, but after spiraling out of control, this controversial study was abruptly stopped after just six days. Why? Because someone was heroic enough to stand up against what they thought was wrong. That person convinced Zimbardo to end the experiment. The experience affected Dr. Zimbardo so powerfully that he has since turned his energy away from the study of evil and onto the study of heroism. According to Zimbardo, being a hero doesn't mean you have to rescue someone from a burning building. A hero is just someone who acts selflessly out of concern for others, at personal risk and without the expectation of reward. It took a hero to empathize with the subjects in the Stanford Prison Experiment and stand up to Dr. Zimbardo. But where do heroes like that come from? Is heroism a personality type you were born with, or can you be taught to be a hero? And do you really need a cape?

[Music] I sat down with Philip Zimbardo and his wife Christina Maslach to hear about the Stanford Prison Experiment and how it brought them together as a couple. Stanford Prison study was supposed to go for two weeks, and we had had to terminate it early because of some unexpected turbulence in this study. I was just really upset at what I was seeing and just a sort of dehumanization. People are watching, and nobody's bothered by it. It wasn't just Phil; it was everybody else. People were sort of teasing me; some of the other grad students were saying, "Well, hey, you just got your PhD in psychology; this is human behavior, right?" But it's upsetting in two ways: one, that this shouldn't be human behavior; this is so mean, but also in human behavior! It's inhuman to just watch it and not intervene! Of course, in retrospect, no, but when you're in it, you're part of the evil. I was looking at it through a different lens, and everybody is saying, "The graduates, wow this is really interesting!" Playing back the videos during the night, and she's just saying, “Blowing the whistle on this!” You know, I could not understand how we were not seeing things in the same way. But then the key thing she says about our relationship is, “Yeah, if this is the real you, then we're done. This is over.” And at that moment, that was the slap in the face, that was the wake-up call. Hello, wake up! She said, “I don't think I want to continue my relationship with you,” and that's heroic. Heroes take action, which involves a personal risk. She said, "Come to your senses and make the right decision, and if you don't, I'm out of here." And did you make the decision to end the experiment that night? Oh sure!

[Music] Being a hero means putting yourself on the line to help others, but in the real world, ethics can get murky, and those who are celebrated as heroes by some can be denounced as villains by others. In 1971, former military analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked secret documents he had access to regarding the Vietnam War. The so-called Pentagon Papers showed that the Johnson administration was lying to both the media and Congress regarding the scope of U.S. actions in Vietnam. Ellsberg faced 115 years in prison for espionage, but his case was dismissed due to a legal handling of evidence on the part of the government. More recently, both Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden released classified government information. All three whistleblowers are now seen as heroes by some and traitors by others. What these individuals have in common is that they all risked their reputations and safety to expose what they saw as wrongdoing. Would you be willing to risk your job, your friends, your reputation to do what you thought was right? Well, to find out, let's observe the whistleblower and the bystander in their natural habitat.

In a 2012 survey conducted by Dr. Zimbardo and Dr. Piero Bo Chiaro, participants were asked what they would do if they were put into an unethical situation at work. Over ninety-five percent said they would disobey their boss and blow the whistle. But it's one thing to say you'd blow the whistle and another thing to actually do it. At a local community college, we set up a realistic whistleblower test with the help of Dr. Zimbardo and Dr. Bock Yarrow. Our subjects were temporary employees who believed they were hired to help set up a simple psychological experiment. For authenticity, we've gained access to a local college's psychology department. So from the very moment our participants arrive, they will believe that our scientific experiment is real, but the experiment is fake and everyone they're about to meet is an actor.

You guys ready? Ready! Psychology professor Ron Mossler will be observing the subjects from our hidden control room while I play the role of a researcher, a very unethical researcher. First up is Shari, hello, who's accompanied by an actor posing as another temp worker. "Let me explain what we're recruiting for. I call it groundbreaking because it's a study that hasn't been done, at least at this scale. The study is a study on isolation, correct? We're going to be putting people in isolation for 10 days. There won't be any windows, no clocks, nothing to read, nothing to write on. The lights are gonna be on the entire time, and there won't be anything in there but a camping toilet. In three days studies, we know that anxiety and delusions are quite common, but no one's ever tried 10 days. There's the potential for nervous breakdowns; there's a lot of stress on the individual, and there can be some kind of cognitive regression as well."

"When will you tell them about the risk?" "They'll probably be told about the risks in a debrief after the experiment." "After the experiment? Yes, I understand, but again I think that the greater good is served by this research. So you'll just be manning phones calling people from our volunteer lists, and for every person you're able to confirm today, we're offering a $20 bonus." At this point, Shari looks skeptical, but so far she and our other subjects are going along with the assignment. However, the stakes are about to get higher. We have lists of key, don't know why that's...

"Hello? Hey Michael, this is Trin." "Hey Trin, how you doing?" "Well, unfortunately, I have some bad news. The ethics review board has reviewed your isolation study, and we have decided to reject it." "Yes, yes, the study is too dangerous and potentially too harmful to participants, so at this point, we can't approve it." "Okay, so this is a shutdown, correct?" "Okay, so pay attention to any of that! I appreciate what the Ethics Board stands for, but we're going ten days. You call the numbers on this list and get them confirmed. We got a script for you and we're not going to tell them about the negative side effects they could encounter."

Okay, all of the subjects now understood the possible dangerous side effects of the study and were instructed to fudge their description to potential recruits. But more importantly, they knew the study was not approved by the academic review board. Would they go ahead and tell the truth, why or blow the whistle?

"Hello? Hi next research lab! We're looking for volunteers to participate in an upcoming experiment on isolation. Anyone who joins this will be confined in isolation for ten days." "What's the accommodations like?" "You get your own personal room; it's all lit up." She's really selling this! "Can I bring like a book or something like that?" "No, it's like your own little mini vacation from all the distractions." "I mean, like what are the risks of being in a box without a bed for ten days?" "So you'd be helping us discover that." "Have they done it before?" "They haven't done it yet in California!"

"Wow, all right, well I like making history! Are there any like mental health risks?" "No, there's no risks or anything like that! No, no flashing lights, no fear dynamic, not a horror movie in any way!" "No, he knows there are dangers on a piece of paper right in front of him but when asked if there are dangers, he labels other dangers that won't be there! There's no engagement; there will be no one in the room with you; it's nothing illegal or nothing!" "Yes, it's not illegal and it's all been approved by the University!" "At the moment it is approved?" "Yeah, 100%! Why is this approved by the FDA?" "Yes, it is! Yeah, they are aware of the study!" "Yes, the Food Drug Administration."

Despite knowing the experiment has been deemed dangerous and harmful, these subjects are willing to bend the truth or outright lie. Would skeptical Shari go along as well? "This is like, you know, really crucial type of experiment and research that they're trying to embark upon!" "Yeah, I'm sorry; I just don't think I can do it. This is not, you know, something that I want to... pressure you or anybody, so yes, no, you're so welcome!"

Come in, we sent in our actor who was posing as another temp worker to see how the other subjects felt about the job. "How's it going?" "I've gotten two guesses." "No way! I'm congrats man! Thanks! Just, I feel weird because I personally don't believe in risking the imaging people anyway and right here, nervous breakdowns, mental regression, anxiety, you're asking people if we can limply torture them a little bit!" "That's... he knows... it's one stuff about Hannibal Lecter; all of the awesome. I don't know how I'm feeling about this, you know? I mean how do you feel about it?" "I feel like once these people say yes then they get them here, they're gonna have to break this down further."

"Oh, you think he's gonna get anybody?" "Personally, in a different way, she's justified." "So, yeah, I mean nobody's gonna sign up anyway! Do you think like it's ethical, I guess, to be doing something like that?"

The participants seemed to have issues with the study, but they all continued to make calls anyway. After about a half an hour, it was time to give them the opportunity to blow the whistle. "I'm sure now unless I'm with the university's ethics Review Board; oh, do you mind if I just ask you a couple of questions in a moment? Oh, we're just reaching out to people who were interested in the upcoming experiment about isolation."

"Are you telling them about any potential side effects?" "His isolation has been linked to some very severe depression and anxiety and that sort of thing." "Gotcha, mm-hmm; it can be linked to that, but it's also like great for learning, you know, why mad, anxious, why am I depressed, why am I all this stuff." "So some pretty like to face all that!"

She's really rationalizing it very well. "What have you been telling them about the study, all the details?" "No, it's my first day here." "Does it seem like it's an ethical experiment?" "Yes, very much!"

"I'm just wondering if there's any concerns that you've had about anything that you've seen?" "Yeah, okay he knows that the isolation study isn't happening." "Yes, yes, yes, whoa, he's covering for me!" "Are they being told that they can leave at any time?" "No, that's a pretty clear violation!" "Is that something that you would be willing to report?"

[Music] "It's totally up to you, not to." Yeah, not one of these subjects blew the whistle even when given the opportunity.

"Have you had any concerns so far with any of the work that you're doing?" "He's having us call on something that I guess you might have already told him that he shouldn't, but then he's saying that no you guys can make some calls because I don't need.”

"And how did you feel about being told to tell people to stop protesting?" "I felt in my heart that he was not being upfront with revealing the side effects." "Hmm, okay, if you're from the Ethics Board, didn't you need to know? Would you be willing to go on the record?" "Great! I appreciate that you care about that; thank you, that's very important!" Wow, she did it! Good for her!

Out of our five subjects, only one was willing to blow the whistle. It was time to blow the whistle on what we were really studying. "Here's what's really going on: there is no isolation study; this is a study on whistleblowers."

"What was going on in your head when you were deciding if you should be loyal to your job and what I told you to do versus..." "That's when I said, 'Oh heck no,' because I was feeling like, you know, he can't get away with this."

But Shari was the exception. "So why did you not spill all the beans?" "You asked me to do something, and I'm here to work for you, so it's like that was my first allegiance." "Did you feel bad though? Did you feel like this shouldn't be doing this?" "All right! I did feel bad, but I mean I've done sales before, so I mean like sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!"

We had Trin come in to see if you would tell on me, but you didn't. "Why?" "Hmm, I don't know; sometimes they're more loyal to people than I guess maybe when my conscience fully tells me."

When asked, we'd like to believe we would do the right thing, but when we're in the actual situation, it's very difficult to be a hero. Georgetown University scanned the brains of kidney donors, a pretty good example of people who help others at risk to themselves with little perceived personal benefit. The scans show that people who willingly give up a kidney for a stranger have a larger-than-average amygdala, a part of the brain that deals with a range of emotions, including compassion. The researchers also found that the amygdala in these altruistic individuals responded more strongly than average to seeing other people in distress.

But if you weren't blessed with a larger amygdala, could you be trained to be a hero? Nearly half a century after the Stanford Prison Experiment, Dr. Zimbardo's mission is to turn everyday people into heroes. How do you teach someone to be more heroic?

I started a non-profit foundation called the Heroic Imagination Project; the acronym is HIP. I work with a team of educators; we created a series of lessons based around fundamental principles of social psychology. How do you transform passive bystanders into active heroes? To stand up, speak out, and take wise and effective action in challenging situations in their family, in their life.

Could people be trained to act heroically? That's the goal of the seminars Umberto's staff is conducting all around the world. "This is actually part of the Heroic Imagination Project, and what we're going to do today is really look at or focus on how you can become an everyday hero. What I need you to all be thinking about is this idea of the bystander effect, that the more people that are present, the less likelihood you have of actually receiving help. It's hard to be the first person, but if you see an emergency, you should take that responsibility to actually be the first. Once that one person actually helps, so many others will help."

Dr. Feibig uses visual aids and current events to demonstrate how to overcome the obstacles that often hold you back from being a hero. "What research shows is that African Americans are two times more likely to offer help; Hispanic males, not women, are also two times more likely to offer help. Before to class, I honestly thought like to be a hero you really had to be someone of the calling destined to do great news, but after the class, I feel like you definitely can be normal and be a hero."

After taking the class, "I would definitely be the first person to respond because that person needs saving!" In written surveys, past HIP graduates have stated that they would act heroically in the future, but they haven't been put to the test until now. We waited six weeks, then recruited five HIP students for a fake marketing event, which seemingly had nothing to do with their heroism class.

We set our event at a local church, placed hidden cameras, and hired actors to play the other participants. Finally, for a control group, we also recruited five students who did not take the HIP class, but what we're really testing is what it's like to be a bystander and what makes a hero.

"This is our control room; from inside here, our crew will be able to watch everything going on and will be able to speak with the actors through earpieces they have hidden inside their ears. This is Lisa and Barry, you guys ready? Yeah, head on out!"

It was time to create our crisis. I was supposed to get cake, a bullying nurse, and a feeble old man who could use some help from a hero on a hot day in July. "I didn't have water in there; I need you to shut up about the water!" I think she's noticing what's happening.

"Hey Sally, how you doing? Come on down!" "I'm on the phone; shut up!" "Can I just take my barriers?" "He's always complaining about some." Now she's looking away because it's a little hard to look at, like that's not right!

"I don't like this a little bit!" "Just, I do you need anything?" "Shut up about the water!" Glass or sunglasses on so she can look and not be seen to be looking. IML clearly disapproved, but none of our actors made a move to help, and she didn't either.

We gave her several more minutes, but she never got up from the bench. "Let's go!" We wanted to know why. "So you have just participated in a psychological experiment; everyone here is an actor except for you. Were you watching Barry and Lisa?" "Oh, I was, and having a hard time. Did you feel like it was bad enough that someone needed to go in and help?" "I'm kind of trusted that the people around me would probably notice something and if anything they would say something."

"The way that you interpreted the situation is, you know, why isn't anyone else doing something? Then it must not be as important for me to do something." That's the bystander effect, pretty much showing the power of that situation. IML did not act heroically.

It was time to test a HIP student! Remember Courtney? "I would definitely be the person to respond because that person needs saving!" - Oh, it's... "Fallopian tubes giving the middle finger!" Seems like she's pretty socially active.

"Yes, Lisa!" "Please, a little bit of water!" “If you stop talking, you won't be as thirsty!" "Why won't you get me water?" "While many times do I have to explain this to you? Every time you drink water, you have to go to the restroom!"

"Hey, how's it goin'? He's being his regular rambunctious self!" "I need you!" "I'm on the phone, wow, that's hard!" "Hey, calm down, no kidding!" "Okay, yeah, for sure, bye!"

"I told you whenever I'm on the phone to not talk or do anything like this! You're totally lost your water privileges for the rest of the day!" "Go straight up!" "Why can't I have no? Why? Why are you laughing?"

"I think we have water!" "Okay, yeah, everything's fine. Would you like some of my water, sir?" "I would like some water!" "Oh my gosh for you, sir!"

Courtney displayed heroism today; was it due to her help training? "My name is Al, I've been working at her imagination project, and it looks like you may have learned a few things from their lessons! Do you want to tell us a little bit about your experience?" "You shouldn't be a bystander!" "Yeah, no, I just couldn't let it happen!"

"How did that affect how you acted today?" "It affected me 'cause I made sure I went up and said something; I don't think I would have if I didn't learn from that project before!" "Really, Courtney, you are a hero!"

Thank you, Courtney! Courtney's behavior appeared to relate to her HIP training. Another HIP student was next. "If a situation arose, I would definitely try to be a hero if I could be, or at least I would find someone who could do something better than me."

But would Elijah live up to his prediction? "No turn around, turn around!" "What did I just say? Turn around!" "I have to tell you something!"

"Like that, I mean it seems pretty bad!" "Sorry, I was quiet!" "I know you weren't quiet because of that; you're not going to have any water!"

"If you like group intervene, so one of us doing it to strengthen my house very good!" "He's our first person to recruit; he is also the leader of the group!" Yes, utilizing the be the first strategy from the class!

"That's fine, thank you!" So far, two HIP students had displayed heroism. Next, we tested a HIP student and a non-HIP student at the same time. "They've complaining about complaining!" "He's complaining about!"

"I'm not complaining!" "You have to take this class!" "If I find myself in a situation where someone would need help, I find myself more inclined to definitely step in and step up!"

Would Jessica step up? "Stop complaining right now!" "Really?" "Wow, I need some water!" "Yeah!" Catherine and our actress both got up to give Barry water while the HIP student Jessica remained seated.

Catherine didn't take the HIP class. "Why did she intervene, and why didn't the HIP student get up to help Catherine?" "Why do you think you were first?" "You're not afraid to step in Jessica; you've been through a program called HIP!" "Yes!"

"Did you think about that?" "Yeah, a lot! I wanted to stand up; I have really pretty bad anxiety; I am NOT a very confrontational person."

Clearly, the hero training class was not the only factor at work here. We ran the test several more times with a mixed bag of results. HIP students who helped; she went looking for help, HIP students who did nothing, and non-HIP students who acted heroically.

"She's doing it all right!" So, you know, like secretly give Barry water? "Yes, thank you!"

Our last subject of the day, Ruben did not take the HIP class, and we decided to make taking heroic action as difficult for him as possible. We instructed our bystander actors not to react to the elder abuse or encourage Ruben in any way.

"We just got here, Barry!" "I know, but I'm sure she's not complaining!" "I'm not just stop complaining! I just need some water!"

"I just wanted to live in the water!" "Yes, fine, just relax!” Despite the remarkable social costs of getting up in such a disaffected group of people, he did. "Here's what I could give him my water!"

"As I bake, wow! Personally, if you are taking care of my parent, that means some lawsuits because that's not the way you treat somebody with no training and no support from the group!"

Ruben chose to be a hero. "Why? If I don't take action, then nobody else will. And I was like I wish I would have stood up sooner. Now I feel like in the future, about what type of situation like this, like I wouldn't even think twice!"

Scientists have studied heroism, and one thing they have found is that Hispanic and Black males are the most likely to intervene. It makes sense; maybe because of the background that we come from as a minority, we have to defend ourselves, and I think it's a subconscious thing that we do.

"I just a shock right now!" When it came to being a hero, we found that the HIP class could only help to a certain extent; an individual's background played a vital role.

So 10 heroic behavior be taught, or does it really boil down to personality? I mean, ideally, an educational program costs should transcend personality differences, but practice makes perfect.

The key to heroism is starting with very little steps. Try to do a good deed of kindness and be willing to make the biggest step. We had a very small sample size in our demonstration, but we found that people of color were much more likely to take action.

Why? If you're a minority person, the system is usually your enemy, so you can't say, “Well, the police will help or the government will help or the landlord will help.” So it's me or no one! Right? And so you're just more sensitive to people in need.

Not all heroes are the same; the wisest course of action won't be the same for any two people, but making it a habit to look for opportunities to be compassionate and stepping back to see and consider all available options can be learned.

It's a skill exercised like a muscle by repetition. You don't have to wear a cape to be a hero, but if you want to, that's okay. And as always, thanks for watching!

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