Zimbardo was long intrigued by the question of how people who are functioning normally and effectively first begin to develop the symptoms of psychopathology. In particular, he was interested in understanding when, why, and how those experiences may eventually lead to psychiatric diagnosis, or what in ordinary parlance is often referred to as “madness.” Using hypnosis as an experimental tool, he focused on the way that individuals experience significant “discontinuities” in their lives, and how these events can trigger a search for understanding (to be rational) and/or a search for social comparison with comparable others (to be normal).
Selected Publications:
- Zimbardo, P. G., Laberge, S., & Butler, L. D. (1993). Psychophysiological consequences of unexplained arousal: A posthypnotic suggestion paradigm. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102(3), 466.
- Zimbardo, P. G. (1999). Discontinuity theory: Cognitive and social searches for rationality and normality–may lead to madness. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, (Vol. 31, pp. 345-486).
- Zimbardo, P. G., Andersen, S. M., & Kabat, L. G. (1981). Induced hearing deficit generates experimental paranoia. Science, 212 (4502), 1529-1531.