How and why do good people turn evil?

Philip George Zimbardo, well known psychologist has discovered answers that he need to share with everyone who might care about these fundamental issues about Human Nature.

Every one of us can be a hero

Simply put, the key to heroism is a concern for other people in need—a concern to defend a moral cause, knowing there is a personal risk, done without expectation of reward.

Are good people safe from crossing over to the bad side?

As the story goes, Dr. Jekyll uses a chemical to turn into his evil alter ego Dr. Hyde. In real life, however, no chemical may be needed.

Instead, just the right dose of certain social situations can transform ordinarily good people into evildoers

Evil doers can again be good

Parts of heroism

Acts of heroism don’t just arrive from truly exceptional people but from people placed in the right circumstance, given the necessary tools to transform compassion into heroic action.

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Third, a heroic act is one performed with recognition of possible risks and costs, be they to one’s physical health or personal reputation, in which the actor is willing to accept anticipated sacrifice.

Finally, it is performed without external gain anticipated at the time of the act.

Heroism is an activity with several parts

"That line between good and evil is permeable," Zimbardo said. "Any of us can move across it...

I argue that we all have the capacity for love and evil--to be Mother Theresa, to be Hitler or Saddam Hussein. It is the situation that brings that out."

First, it’s performed in service to others in need—whether that is a person, group, or community—or in defense of certain ideals.

Second, it is engaged in voluntarily, even in military contexts, as heroism remains an act that goes beyond something required by military duty.

We all have an inner hero, argues Philip Zimbardo.

Seduced into evil

In fact, the classic electric shock experiment by social psychologist Stanley Milgram, showed that when given an order by someone in authority, people would deliver what they believed to be extreme levels of electrical shock to other study participants who answered questions incorrectly.

What makes ordinary people do good things?

Leadership?

Sacrifice?

Courage?

Knowledge?

Awareness of future?

Mindfulness?

Compassion?

Empathy?

How and why do good people turn evil?

Results

It is our choice!

The line dividing good and evil

cuts through the center of every human heart.

The line shifts inside of us.

It is in every decision

we make little ones and big ones,

day by day.

- 1000 ordinary people in 16 different studies, not only Yale students.

- 2/3 (65%) go all the way to 450 volts! (at 375, the learner screams in terror and becomes silent)

- Psychiatrists predicted that only 1% would go all the way. They were wrong and this is an example of dispositional analysis error (psychiatrists are trained to think that it is all in your head) and the fundamental attribution error (when you ignore the situation in favour of the person)

The experiments provide several lessons about how situations can foster evil:

Another example - Stanford Prison Experiment

But remember!

Milgram’s study was about one person responding to another. This study examines how we respond to institutions more than the psychology of prisoners. (Good apples going into a bad barrel.) Personal identities were erased, nice kids became brutal guards and the illusion became the reality. Many subjects developed extreme stress reactions and had to be released but no one actually quit the experiment. Many criticize the study for having violated ethical guidelines. It was meant to last two weeks but was ended after six days. It had spun out of control. He did not allow physical violence but allowed psychological violence

Why do ordinary people turn evil?

Provide people with an ideology to justify

beliefs for actions.

Make people take a small first step toward a harmful act with a minor, trivial action and then gradually increase those small actions.

Make those in charge seem like a "just authority."

Transform a once compassionate leader into

a dictatorial figure.

Provide people with vague and ever-changing rules. Relabel the situation's actors and their actions to legitimize the ideology.

Conclusion: situational power affects all of us.

Dehumanization

Diffusion of responsibility

Obedeience of authority

Unjust systems

Group pressure

Power and control

Moral disengagement

Anonymity or de-indyviduation

We can identify three different kinds of evil

Individual - personal disposition; 'Bad apples' - try to understand human behavior in terms of things inside of people

Situational - social and physical environment; 'Bad barrel' - identifying person in situation

Systemic - organizational influences, political, economicm cultural, legal; 'Bad barrel makers' - they create the situations that influence the individuals

What is evil?

According to Zimbardo - evil is the exercise of power to intentionally

harm (psychologically)

hurt (physically)

destroy (mortally)

commit crimes against humanity (via genocide by nations)