A more amazing aspect of the study, which you fail to mention, is that the participants adopted the roles so thoroughly that they forgot that participation was voluntary. All any of the students had to do was say, "I quit. I'm going home," but not a single person did so. Instead, they chose to be degraded and punished or inflict punishment on others as if they were really guards and prisoners.

Can you imagine becoming hysterical or withdrawing into despair rather than just quitting and going about your regular life?