My early childhood prepared me to be a social psychologist. I grew up in a South Bronx ghetto in a very poor family. From Sicilian origin, I was the first person in my family to complete high school, let alone go to college.

Evil is knowing better, but willingly doing worse.

Time perspective is one of the most powerful influences on all of human behavior. We're trying to show how people become biased to being exclusively past-, present- or future-oriented.

The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.

Many cults start off with high ideals that get corrupted by leaders or their board of advisors who become power-hungry and dominate and control members lives. No group with high ideals starts off as a cult; they become one when their errant ways are exposed.

What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?

Being hurt personally triggered a curiosity about how such beliefs are formed.