Have you ever wondered about the personality of famously brutal leaders like Hitler or Pol Pot? Have you wondered how ordinary citizens were convinced by political parties to carry out atrocities on fellow citizens? Are you interested in what fuels and motivates partisanship or political zealotry? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might just have a future in Political Psychology.
- What is "political psychology" by definition?
- What is, in political psychology, an impact factor?
- Then, let's explore a few political psychology theories.
- What is the importance of political psychology?
- Finally, let's look at some political psychology examples.
Political Psychology Definition
We live in a politically charged world. Politics touches and influences every aspect of our lives, even if we are not actively aware of its reach. It's natural to wonder what motivates the leaders who make our laws, or the candidates and political parties we support or oppose. It's topics like these that political psychology aims to investigate.
Political Psychology is a field of social scientific study that draws on political science, psychology, economics, sociology, business, and several other fields of study.
When we think of politics, we often think of a political strategy. Strategy is important because it leads our world forward by providing a blueprint for action, whether it's on the campaign trail or simply a strategy for city planning. However, political psychology is just as important as strategy.
Political Psychology: Impact Factor
Political Psychology is the name of a bi-monthly journal published by the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP). The ISPP is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1978. It aims to explore the relationship between psychological and political phenomena, increase the awareness and understanding of political psychology, and nurture communication across boundaries. Members of the ISPP come from the numerous fields of study that make up the subject matter of political psychology. They are psychologists, political scientists, economists, sociologists, historians, anthropologists, and more. The central office is located in the United States, with members coming from all corners of the globe.
Political Psychology has an impact factor of 4.804, which gives it a ranking of 15th out of 187 journals dedicated to political psychology and 15th out of 65 social psychology journals. The journal is used in over 4,000 institutions across the world and is downloaded hundreds of thousands of times throughout each year.
Political Psychology is dedicated to the exploration of the relationship between political and psychological processes. Content comes from professionals from the numerous and diverse fields that make up the field of political psychology. The journal helps create and maintain connections around the world and works to increase awareness of the importance of political psychology.
Political Psychology Theories
Political psychology is a field that investigates the psychological underpinnings and consequences of political movements or behavior. It seeks to develop new theories that address the intersection of politics and psychology directly. The field also incorporates many theories that originated outside of political science. Political psychology examines political phenomena through certain basic social or cognitive theories from sociology or psychology, like social dominance, group behavior, and conspiracy theories.
Social Dominance
Social dominance theories explore our preference for and acceptance of inequality among different social groups. Beliefs about social dominance can influence our beliefs and social behavior and can lead to prejudice.
Prejudice is an unjustified and often negative attitude toward a particular group of people.
Believing that all people from a certain country or ethnic background are lazy or fundamentally less intelligent is an expression of prejudice. Prejudice often involves the belief in negative stereotypes and discrimination or unjustified behavior toward a particular group.
Extreme prejudice is linked to an authoritarian personality style and authoritarianism in the political world.
Something or someone who is authoritarian favors strict and often blind obedience to authority.
A key element of an authoritarian mindset or government is a strict division of power. Blind adherence to authority bestows virtually unlimited power upon it. This leads to prejudiced thinking and oppressive policy.
Fig. 1 - Social groups
Group Behavior
When we study group behavior, we look at the way that being in the presence of others can change our cognition or behavior. Being around a certain group influences us to think in a certain way, or to stop thinking in a certain way. We might find that we even do things that we wouldn't normally do when we are around certain groups. To this end, political psychology incorporates certain theories of group behavior like deindividuation, ingroup bias, and
Deindividuation is reduced self-restraint or self-awareness as a result of group situations that foster anonymity and increased emotional arousal.
The key to individuation is a heightened feeling of anonymity and emotional arousal. If you've ever seen a peaceful protest turn into rioting and looting, deindividuation has played a part.
Ingroup bias is the tendency to favor the people with whom you share a social group or identity.
Ingroup bias comes from our understanding of "us" versus "them." The people in our political party, religious or ethnic group, socio-economic class, and culture are part of "us." Everyone else is "them." These identifiers can strongly influence the way we think and behave.
Fig. 2 - Conspiracy theories
Conspiracy Theories
Political psychology examines the psychological reasoning that leaves people more vulnerable to believing conspiracy theories or to a conspiracy mindset. It also looks at the influence conspiracy theories have over our thinking, actions, and political behavior.
Explanations for the causes of political and social circumstances or events that involve secret plots by powerful people or institutions are conspiracy theories.
There are several factors that influence the likelihood that someone will adopt a conspiracy theory or a conspiracy mindset. There are psychological factors that show up in the form of existential motives. People who feel like they have little control over their lives or their fate might take comfort in the idea of a powerful outside force that is acting upon their lives. Social factors that influence a conspiracy mindset often arise from ingroup bias and a defensive reaction to protect one's group. Culture and income are demographic factors that influence conspiracy theories.
Importance of Political Psychology
Political psychology is important because politics is central to our lives. Politics touches every area of our lives. The type of clothes we can wear, the education we have access to, and the relationships we can have openly and legally are all reflections of our political rights. There is little that we do that does not come through the filter of political policy.
Political psychology also allows us to be more instrumental in our political behavior. The more we understand the reasoning and motivation behind the work of political movements and our political leaders, the more we are able to make informed decisions as we engage in the political process.
Through political psychology, we are better able to understand concepts like equality, freedom, and justice. This leads to better application of these concepts in policy, education, and social relations.
Political Psychology Examples
Political psychology theories are interesting, but what do political psychologists do? Below you will find a few examples of professions or research topics that political psychologists work with.
Political psychologists can remain in academia as instructors or professors. They can contribute to journals or educational publications and textbooks.
Political psychologists can work as journalists and hit the road following political campaigns. They would look at things like the dynamics between political groups and the foundation of a candidate's beliefs and social behavior. They might report on or from areas of conflict, following political clashes, detailing the psychological motivations and consequences of war and displacement.
Some political psychologists work directly with political candidates as a consultant. They provide insight into which policies will win favor among which groups. They help groom a candidate's mannerisms to match the tone of power or compassion that they desire. Other political psychologists might examine voter behavior among certain groups or investigate the root of certain political beliefs.
Political Psychology - Key takeaways
- Political Psychology is a field of social scientific study that draws on political science, psychology, economics, sociology, business, and several other fields of study.
- The International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1978.
- Political psychology examines political phenomena through certain basic social or cognitive theories from sociology or psychology, like social dominance, group behavior, and conspiracy theories.
- Political psychology is important because it allows us to be more instrumental in our political behavior, helps us understand important concepts, and because politics is central to our lives.
- Political psychologists can work as professors, researchers, journalists, or political consultants.
References
- Fig. 2 - "File:Covid-19 Conspiracy Theory Graffiti in Dartford Marshes.jpg" by Ethan Doyle White is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Fig. 1 - "Kappa Alpha Theta sorority spring pledge class, Fresno State College, March 7th, 1964" by Lance & Cromwell back from a Road Trip is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Explanations 
Textbooks 
Exams 
Magazine 
