The Lucifer Effect

In this book, Philip Zimbardo delves into the psychological and social factors that lead good people to engage in evil behavior.

The book is centered around Zimbardo's famous Stanford Prison Experiment, where students were assigned roles as prisoners and guards, leading to disturbing outcomes.

It also examines other historical and contemporary examples, such as the Abu Ghraib prison abuses, to illustrate how situational and systemic forces can transform individuals.

Zimbardo argues that humans are neither inherently good nor evil but are shaped by their circumstances.

The book explores concepts like deindividuation, dehumanization, and the evil of inaction, and concludes by discussing the concept of heroism and how individuals can resist negative situational influences.