Political Psychology: A Social Psychological Approach

A research-based guide to political psychology that is filled with critical arguments from noted experts

Political Psychology is solidly grounded in empirical research and critical arguments. The text puts the emphasis on alternative approaches to psychological enquiry that challenge our traditional assumptions about the world. With contributions from an international panel of experts, the text contains a meaningful exchange of ideas that draw on the disciplines of social psychology, sociology, history, media studies and philosophy. This important text offers a broader understanding of the different intellectual positions that academics may take towards political psychology.

Comprehensive in scope Political Psychology provides a historical context to the subject and offers a critical history of common research methods. The contributors offer insight on political thought in psychology, the politics of psychological language, narrating as political action, political decision-making and much more. This important text:

• Offers contributions from a panel of international experts on the topic
• Includes a review of some political ideas associated with the work of Karl Marx, Erich Fromm, R.D. Laing, Michel Foucault and others
• Presents information on prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination in the context of mass migration
• Reviews a wide range of relevant topics such as identity, social exclusion and foreign policy and more
• Contains questions for group debate and discussion at the end of each chapter

Written for academics and students of political psychology, Political Psychology is a comprehensive resource that includes contributions from experts in a variety of fields and disciplines.

Keywords:

Guide to political psychology; understanding political psychology; text on political psychology; resource to political psychology; the development of religious identities; the social and moral order and political psychology; The influence of political philosophy on social psychology; Locating the root of human behaviour; social cognition; a societal approach to political psychology; a history of research methods and political psychology; searching for the universal laws of behaviour; The construction of norms, normality and normalcy and political philosophy; Using statistical measures and models for political purposes; alienation to estrangement and political thought; politics and governance of the self; the politics of psychological language; Discursive psychology, rhetorical psychology and cognitive psychology