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6 - The Structure, Prevalence, and Nature of Mass Belief Systems

from Part I - Foundations of Political Psychology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2022

By
Bert N. Bakker  and
Yphtach Lelkes
Edited by
Danny Osborne  and
Chris G. Sibley
Danny Osborne
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Chris G. Sibley
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
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Summary

Ideology is a central concept in political psychology. Here, we synthesise the scholarly debate's major themes. We first examine the ways in which ideology has been operationalised and discuss its prevalence (or lack thereof) in the mass public. This is followed by a discussion of the top-down and bottom-up forces that shape citizens' ideology. Top-down processes include political elites and socialisation. Bottom-up processes range from political values, basic human values, and personality to biology and genetics. Finally, we outline steps that we would welcome in the next generation of research on political ideology. These include fundamental questions about the causal relationship between different bottom-up factors and a call for more attention to measurement of key constructs and of open science practices in the study of political ideology. We hope this chapter inspires others and sets the stage for the next generation of research on political ideology.

Keywords

IdeologyStructureOriginsBottom-upTop-down
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Political Psychology , pp. 89 - 103
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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