John Watson's 1974 experiment studied warriors across 23 different cultures and found that those who disguised themselves with masks or war paint were more destructive towards their victims compared to unmasked warriors. This experiment supports Philip Zimbardo's argument that relabeling and altering a person's appearance can change their perception of others and themselves, making them feel separated from their humanity.
Zimbardo explains that by wearing masks or uniforms, individuals minimize their social responsibility because their identity becomes anonymous. This anonymity reduces personal accountability and creates a psychological distance between the aggressor and victim. Consequently, the aggressors feel freer to behave in ways they normally wouldn't, such as being cruel or abusive. This effect also relates to relabeling, where harmful actions are semantically reframed — for example, hurting becomes helping — which legitimizes aggressive behavior in the mind of the actor.
Option C states that "The masked warriors felt separated from their humanity, so they felt free to treat others inhumanely." This captures the essence of how relabeling and anonymity, as found in Watson's experiment, support Zimbardo's findings. The disguise leads to a psychological transformation where normal moral constraints weaken, resulting in increased aggression and dehumanization.
Therefore, Watson's experiment aligns with Zimbardo's conclusion that situational factors and relabeling can transform ordinary people into perpetrators of inhumane behavior by altering their perception of self and others.