The "Lucifer Effect" is a term coined by psychologist Philip Zimbardo to describe how ordinary people can commit atrocious acts when placed in certain situations. It highlights the influence of social and environmental factors on human behavior, suggesting that situational pressures can lead individuals to act against their moral values. This concept gained prominence through the Stanford prison experiment, conducted by Zimbardo in 1971, where participants assigned as guards exhibited abusive behavior towards those assigned as prisoners. The experiment demonstrated how quickly and dramatically people can change when given power, emphasizing the potential for evil within everyone under specific circumstances.