The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil

by Philip G. Zimbardo

A large body of evidence in social psychology supports the concept that situational power triumphs over individual power in given contexts.

In all the research cited and in our real-world examples, there were always some individuals who resisted, who did not yield to temptation. What delivered them from evil was not some inherent magical goodness but rather, more likely, an understanding, however intuitive, of mental and social tactics of resistance.

In contrast to the “banality of evil,” which posits that ordinary people can be responsible for the most despicable acts of cruelty and degradation of their fellows, I posit the “banality of heroism,” which unfurls the banner of the heroic Everyman and Every-woman who heed the call to service to humanity when their time comes to act.