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The cover of The Lucifer Effect

The Lucifer Effect

Philip Zimbardo, 2007

The psychologist behind the Stanford Prison Experiment shows how situations and the Systems behind them turn ordinary people cruel, from his mock prison to Abu Ghraib, and how to resist.

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15 parts, about 34 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Walks through the Stanford prison study day by day, from random assignment of guards and prisoners to the decision to end it
  • Sets person, situation and system side by side as causes of cruelty, without excusing anyone, and tests the idea against Abu Ghraib
  • Gathers experiments on conformity, obedience, anonymity and bystanders, then ends with a program for resisting influence and acting as everyday heroes

Who it is for

  • Readers asking how ordinary people come to do harm
  • Managers and officers who shape the setting others work in
  • Readers curious about psychology experiments and their ethics

What the summary covers

  1. Preface2 min
  2. The Psychology of Evil3 min
  3. Sunday: Arrests and Degradation2 min
  4. Monday's Prisoner Rebellion2 min
  5. Tuesday and Wednesday: Escalation2 min
  6. The Power to Parole1 min
  7. Thursday: Reality Confrontations1 min
  8. The Experiment Ends2 min
  9. What the Experiment Means3 min
  10. Ethics of the Experiment1 min
  11. Conformity and Obedience3 min
  12. Anonymity, Dehumanization and Inaction2 min
  13. Abu Ghraib4 min
  14. Putting the System on Trial3 min
  15. Resisting Influence and Celebrating Heroism3 min

Recommended by

  • Malcolm GladwellJournalist and author of The Tipping Point
    The Lucifer Effect will change forever the way you think about why we behave the way we do—and, in particular, about the human potential for evil. This is a disturbing book, but one that has never been more necessary.
  • Anthony PratkanisProfessor emeritus of psychology, University of California
    In the Stanford Prison Experiment, Philip Zimbardo bottled evil in a laboratory. The lessons he learned show us our dark nature but also fill us with hope if we heed their counsel.

About the author

  • Philip ZimbardoAmerican psychologist and Stanford University professor, died in 2024
    • Born in New York City on 23 March 1933 to a second generation Sicilian American immigrant family.
    • Grew up poor in the South Bronx, which he said started his curiosity about people's behavior.
    • Completed a Yale PhD in psychology in 1959 under Neal E. Miller.
    • Joined the Stanford faculty in 1968 and taught there for 50 years.
    • With graduate students Craig Haney and Curtis Banks he developed the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment to explore the effects of social situations on human behavior.
    • The experiment has been criticized for methods that let Zimbardo and his own biases influence the results.
    • Served as president of the American Psychological Association in 2002.
    • Founded the Heroic Imagination Project, which trains people to resist bullying, bystanding and negative conformity.

Read it alongside

  • Pushes backHumankind

    Zimbardo concludes that situational forces turned normal students cruel in the Stanford prison experiment; Bregman argues the guards were instructed to be tough and most did not become sadistic.

  • Goes deeperTalking to Strangers

    Philip Zimbardo argues that systems shape conduct; Malcolm Gladwell traces this stop's collective failure to proactive policing, a misreading of demeanor, and failure to consider crime location.

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