Ideology, Methods of political psychological research; Personality; Political Psychology, Racism, Social Psychology, Applied social psychology

This course is a basis for students to get acquainted with theories from social and personality psychology, as well as the application of these principles on the analysis of political behaviour.
This course is associated with the following competencies to be acquired during the education of bachelor in Political Sciences: B 1.1, B.1.5, B.1.7, B.2.2, B.2.3 en B.3.1.

Political psychological research: Experimental and correlational research, main effects and interactions, characteristics of questionnaires: multidimensionality and internal consistency
Attitudes and ideology: Measurement of attitudes, organization of political attitudes in the mass public, ideology: fiction or fact?, attitude change, cognitive style and ideology
Authoritarianism: Adorno et al’s “The authoritarian personality”, extremism theory: Eysenck’s and Rokeach’ alternative theories, contemporary perspectives on left-wing authoritarianism, Social dominance theory and the reproduction of inequality
Stereotypes and racism: How stereotypes form, activation of stereotypes, consequences of stereotyping, discrimination, racism, traditional and modern racism, effects on stigmatised targets
Individual differences and personality: Models of personality; the Five-Factor Model, relationship between the five factors and political attitudes, the leader’s personality; leadership styles, person perception of politicians
Conformity: Conformity, the impact of minorities and majorities, Milgram’s studies on obedience, replications and implications of the psychology of obedience, criticisms on Milgram’s work
Group dynamics: Group decision-making, Janis’ groupthink theory, case studies and experimental analysis of erroneous group decisions, social dilemmas, conflict escalation, reduction of international conflicts
De psychology of (mass)movements: Collective identification, mass violence, protest and revolution, psychology of terrorism

General Psychology

To know psychological theories relevant for political sciences
To be aware of the impact of psychological variables on politics
To understand and to be able to assess the value of international political psychological literature
To have an understanding of the translation of a societal problem into a research question and a scientific hypothesis
To be able to critically evaluate the most important methods of quantitative social scientific research
To be aware of the essentials of psychological testing
To have an understanding of the psychological dimension underlying important ideologies (i.e., social-cultural and economic ideology)
To have an understanding of the authoritarianism concept
To acquire knowledge on the psychological mechanisms sustaining racism
To be able to critically assess the image media convey of minority groups
To indicate the most important individual differences in a political context
To acquire insight in the motivational sources of political extremism
To be able to follow independently and critically current political events
To be aware of the effects of social influence
To be able to indicate the effects of group processes on decision-making

Cost: 13.0 EUR
Syllabus “Politieke Psychologie” published by Academia Press.
The student’s own notes written during classes

Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper.
Altemeyer, B. (1998). The other “authoritarian personality”. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol., 30, pp. 47-92). San Diego: Academic Press
Duckitt, J. (2001). A dual-process cognitive-motivational theory of ideology and prejudice. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 33, pp. 41-113). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Durrheim, K. (1997). Theoretical conundrum: The politics and science of theorizing authoritarian cognition. Political Psychology, 18, 625-647.
Kossowska, M., & Van Hiel, A. (2003). The relationship between need for closure and conservative beliefs in Western and Eastern Europe. Political Psychology, 24, 501-518.
Pratto, F. (1999). The puzzle of continuing group inequality: Piecing together psychologi¬cal, social, and cultural forces in social dominance theory. In M.P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol., 31, pp. 191-263). San Diego: Aca¬demic Press.
Simonton, D. K. (1994). Greatness: Who makes history and why. London: Guilford Press
Van Hiel, A., & Mervielde, I. (2002). Explaining conservative beliefs and political preferences: A comparison of social dominance orientation and authoritarianism. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 965-976.
Van Hiel, A., & Mervielde, I. (2003). The measurement of cognitive complexity and its relationship with political extremism. Political Psychology, 24, 781–801.

Interactive support using Claroline (forums, FAQ, e-mail, slides)
speaking hour: Monday, 14h – 15h, H. Dunantlaan 2, room 5.21

(Lecture, Demonstration, Seminar, Integration seminar, Practical, Work placement, Master dissertation, clinic, PBL tutorial, Microteaching, Guided independent study, Independent work, Group work, Project, Online discussion group, Excursion, Fieldwork)
Lectures (with active participation of the students)
Demonstrations

Periodic evaluation (100%).

Written exam with open questions and multiple choice questions. Selection of questions that probe the students’ understanding of the key concepts and their application on the actual political situation