It was 1971. Deep within the Psychology Department at Stanford University, an experience would forever change humanity’s perception of its own nature. The famous Stanford Prison Experiment, conceived and led by Professor Philip Zimbardo, was meant to last two weeks. Instead, it was abruptly halted after just six days. Those few, intense days revealed a disturbing truth: corruption doesn’t always stem from an “evil individual,” but can powerfully emerge from a “corrupt context.” This principle is the core of the Lucifer Effect.

What Did the Stanford Experiment Reveal?

Zimbardo and his team recruited university students, selected for their psychological stability and normalcy. Participants were randomly assigned roles as “guards” or “prisoners” in a simulated environment faithfully replicating a prison. The goal was to observe the psychology of prison life, but reality far exceeded expectations.

The results were not only surprising but deeply alarming:

• guards, ordinary young men without sadistic inclinations, quickly adopted cruel, authoritarian, and dehumanizing behaviors. They began inflicting arbitrary punishments, psychological humiliations, and imposing increasingly stringent rules, displaying unexpected ruthlessness.
• prisoners, on the other hand, rapidly developed profound passivity, acute anxiety, depression, and almost total submission. Some experienced genuine emotional breakdowns, begging to be released.
• individual identity of the participants dissolved in the face of the overwhelming power of their assigned roles. The uniforms, the guards’ dark glasses hiding their expressions, the numbers assigned to the prisoners, and the rigid rules of the game transformed ordinary people into oppressors and victims, creating a dynamic of oppression and submission that quickly spiraled out of control.

The experiment abruptly and unexpectedly ceased precisely because the situation was degenerating alarmingly, surpassing all ethical and psychological limits. This vividly demonstrated how a situational context and the power conferred by roles can influence and corrupt human behavior, even in individuals without any pre-existing predisposition to cruelty or submission. The “evil,” in this case, was not inherent in the individuals but was generated by the system and the situation.

Lucifer Effect in Current Socio-Political Dynamics

The lesson learned from Zimbardo’s experiment resonates disturbingly in the socio-political dynamics we observe daily. It offers a powerful lens to interpret complex phenomena, from international conflicts to internal societal polarization, from authoritarian drifts to mass behaviors.

Dehumanization of the Other: A Tool for Control and Empathy’s Demolition

In contemporary political and social arenas, we witness a growing and troubling tendency to dehumanize the opposition, the “enemy,” the migrant, or anyone perceived as “different.” This process, so evident among the Stanford guards who viewed prisoners as mere numbers or objects, makes it easier to tolerate—and even justify—unfair treatment, discrimination, and acts of violence. When we strip others of their humanity, we nullify our capacity for empathy, making the unthinkable possible. The rhetoric of “us versus them” feeds directly on this dehumanization.

Power of Roles and Institutions: The Transformation of the Individual

The experiment teaches us how power structures and assigned roles—even without explicit directives to “be cruel”—can push individuals to act in ways they never imagined. In the political sphere, this translates into the ease with which seemingly normal people, once vested with authority, can adopt restrictive, punitive, or frankly oppressive policies. These decisions are often justified by pretexts of “national security,” “public order,” or “greater good,” ultimately stifling any moral qualms or residual empathy. Blind obedience to a role can transform an individual.

Victim-Perpetrator Cycle: A Recurring and Chilling Tragedy

The Lucifer Effect helps us understand the perpetuation of the cycle of violence and revenge. When individuals or groups, after enduring profound trauma or systematic oppression, internalize dehumanization, they can, in turn, project it onto a different group, transforming victims into new oppressors. The justification of “retaliation” and the legitimization of past violence become the drivers of new oppression, tragically replaying the scenario where those who suffered injustice now inflict it.

Propaganda and Passive Consent: The Foundations of Collective Corruption

The surprising ease with which the guards assumed control of the situation in the experiment was also amplified by the passivity of other participants and even external observers. In society, the widespread dissemination of misinformation and persistent propaganda, which paints a group as “dangerous,” “inferior,” or “to be eliminated,” can create widespread passive consent or paralyzing indifference. This silence, this lack of critical reaction, or even tacit acceptance, legitimizes the most extreme actions by those in power. Ordinary people can become involuntarily silent accomplices or executors of inhumane directives, simply by obeying an assigned role or perceived authority.

Beyond the Prison: Resisting the Lucifer Effect Today

The Stanford Experiment is not meant to be an ineluctable condemnation of human nature. On the contrary, it serves as a powerful warning and a call to action. It teaches us the crucial importance of constant vigilance and conscious commitment in our daily lives and public discourse:

• Study, read, and personally inform yourself from multiple sources. Deepen your understanding of concepts.
• Question authority: Never blindly accept orders, narratives, or ideologies that aim to dehumanize others or justify oppression.
• Cultivate and preserve empathy: Actively strive to see and recognize the humanity in every individual, even in political adversaries, “the different,” or anyone who thinks differently from you.
• Recognize the power of context: Always be aware that situations, the roles we play, and social pressures can profoundly alter our behavior and that of those around us.
• Actively counter misinformation: Critically informing yourself, verifying sources, and spreading truthful news are fundamental steps to break the cycle of propaganda and manipulation.

The Lucifer Effect pushes us to look beyond simplistic explanations of evil (“they are evil by nature”) and to deeply investigate the corrosive power of circumstances and social structures. It is a powerful lens for understanding authoritarian drifts, conflicts, and cycles of violence that, unfortunately, continue to manifest in our world. This invites us to individual and collective responsibility to resist the dark side of power, obedience, and indifference, and to work towards building contexts that promote humanity and justice.

A Curiosity: Zimbardo wrote about this experiment only many years after conducting it, as he himself needed a significant amount of time to emotionally process what he had witnessed.

Philip Zimbardo

Silvia Garozzo

Psicologa, Psicoterapeuta, Didatta, Supervisore