But although much of the book is rather dark in tone thanks to the detailed descriptions of how ordinary people succumb to evil, the final chapters of The Lucifer Effect offer a small ray of light by reminding us that, thankfully, some people are able to resist social influence and remain immune to the power of situational forces.

Zimbardo’s examples of such rare individuals include Christina Maslach, the graduate student who forced Zimbardo to end the Stanford Prison Experiment (and whom later became his wife), and Private Joe Darby, the soldier who blew the whistle on the abuses taking place at Abu Ghraib prison.

And in the final chapter, Zimbardo introduces a new concept of “The Banality of Heroism” where he asks the reader if they would be able to take on the role of “hero” if the need ever arose.