"This volume tackles one of the most profound issues of human life--why people engage both in behavior that is extraordinarily harmful to others and behavior that is extraordinarily beneficial. Chapters shed light on this issue from a wide range of perspectives, resulting in an extremely thought-provoking work. A useful text for advanced undergraduate- or graduate-level students, the book might even inspire social psychologists to organize new seminars around this topic."--Alice H. Eagly, PhD, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University

"Why do people sometimes engage in unimaginable brutality? Why at other times do they go out of their way to provide crucial assistance to others--even at great cost to themselves? And what could be more important questions for social scientists to address? The essays in this book will not definitively resolve these issues, but they will certainly change the way you think about them. I don't know of any better review of research on the nature of good and evil--in fact, it's hard to imagine one."--Leonard S. Newman, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago

"Miller brings together an all-star team of social psychologists to explore the roots of integrity, empathy, and self-sacrificial altruism--and of hate, terrorism, and self-gratifying greed. This state-of-the-art volume is a feast of humanly significant scholarship, and a guidebook for our time."--David G. Myers, PhD, Department of Psychology, Hope College

“This remarkable resource was published just in time for my students use in 'Evil: Concepts and Realities.' Examining humanity's greatest mysteries from the viewpoint of the best minds in contemporary social psychology had a powerful impact on my students.”--Mark A. Hurst, PhD, The Evergreen State College

"Miller has corralled a refreshing mix of social psychological voices to examine the nature of kindness and cruelty. A classical social psychological emphasis on situational influences forms a common thread that blends standard approaches, theories, and findings with less expected, but welcome, contributions. This eighteen-chapter volume offers a bit of something for everyone. Graduate students and advanced undergraduates will find helpful literature reviews and discussions of conceptual approaches. Instructors will find several essays that are especially accessible to students. Those teaching interdisciplinary courses on the topic of good and/or evil will find a broad representation of social psychological perspectives. For seasoned scholars conducting research on good and evil, this book offers some new empirical evidence, but perhaps more valuable still are the unexpected insights generated by relating classic topics to the theme of good and evil. "--Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology"The editor and contributors--all prominent researchers and theorists--clearly enjoyed crafting these chapters, which mix theory and empirical findings with critical, often personal, reflections on their topics. Their passion for the work makes the book extremely engaging, even when the topics are disturbing or disquieting....Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty."--Choice

"A fine book, rich in scholarship and argument, rarely tendentious and often stimulating, clear and perceptive. It is to be recommended to scholars and the interested reader alike. It is timely and welcome."--Metapsychology

"An accomplished text that makes an important contribution to social psychology. In nursing, the book will be useful for those studying abuse and for lecturers working in nursing ethics."--Nursing Standard

"This excellent anthology can be recommended to a wide variety of audiences....Anyone who is interested in the social psychological literature on these topics could not find a better compilation of contemporary conceptions regarding these concerns....This is an excellent compilation of the most recent research by some of the more distinguished experts illuminating genuinely important social psychological questions."--The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease"Includes chapters from renowned researchers and will be widely read by followers of experimental social psychology....A useful resource."--British Journal of Sociology

I. Conceptual Perspectives on Good and Evil

2. A Situationist Perspective on the Psychology of Evil: Understanding How Good People Are Transformed into Perpetrators, Philip G. Zimbardo

3. Basic Human Needs, Altruism, and Aggression, Ervin Staub

4. Four Roots of Evil, Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen D. Vohs

5. The Evolution of Evil, Joshua D. Duntley and David M. Buss

II. Harming Others: Contexts, Causes, and Implications

6. What's in a Category?: Responsibility, Intent, and the Avoidability of Bias against Outgroups, Susan T. Fiske

7. Contemporary Racial Bias: When Good People Do Bad Things, John F. Dovidio, Samuel L. Gaertner, Jason A. Nier, Kerry Kawakami, and Gordon Hodson

8. Violent Evil and the General Aggression Model, Craig A. Anderson and Nicholas L. Carnagey

9. What Can the Milgram Obedience Experiments Tell Us about the Holocaust?: Generalizing from the Social Psychology Laboratory, Arthur G. Miller

10. Conceptualizing Sexual Violence: Socially Acceptable Coercion and Other Controversies, Charlene L. Muehlenhard and Zoe D. Peterson

III. The Self-Concept in Relation to Good and Evil Acts

11. The Pursuit of Self-Esteem: Implications for Good and Evil, Jennifer Crocker, Shawna J. Lee, and Lora E. Park

12. The Many Faces of Lies, Bella M. DePaulo

13. A Moral-Emotional Perspective on Evil Persons and Evil Deeds, June Price Tangney and Jeff Stuewig

IV. The Possibilities for Kindness

14. Benefits and Liabilities of Empathy-Induced Altruism, C. Daniel Batson, Nadia Ahmad, and E. L. Stocks

15. Empathy-Related Responding: Moral, Social, and Socialization Correlates, Nancy Eisenberg, Carlos Valiente, and Claire Champion

16. Social Support and Behavior toward Others: Some Paradoxes and Some Directions, Thomas Ashby Wills and Jody A. Resko

17. Sacrificing Time and Effort for the Good of Others: The Benefits and Costs of Volunteerism, Mark Snyder, Allen M. Omoto, and James J. Lindsay

18. Reducing Hostility and Building Compassion: Lessons from the Jigsaw Classroom, Eliot Aronson