Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction to applied social psychology
- 2 The USE of theory in applied social psychology
- 3 Applications of social psychology to increase the impact of behaviour-focused intervention
- 4 Research designs in applied social psychology
- 5 Social psychology and economic behaviour: heuristics and biases in decision making and judgement
- 6 Social psychology and immigration: relations between immigrants and host societies
- 7 Applying social psychology to the classroom
- 8 Social psychology and environmental problems
- 9 Gender issues in work and organizations
- 10 Social psychology of health and illness
- 11 Social psychology and mental health
- 12 Social psychology and modern organizations: balancing between innovativeness and comfort
- 13 Social psychology and the study of politics
- Index
- References
13 - Social psychology and the study of politics
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction to applied social psychology
- 2 The USE of theory in applied social psychology
- 3 Applications of social psychology to increase the impact of behaviour-focused intervention
- 4 Research designs in applied social psychology
- 5 Social psychology and economic behaviour: heuristics and biases in decision making and judgement
- 6 Social psychology and immigration: relations between immigrants and host societies
- 7 Applying social psychology to the classroom
- 8 Social psychology and environmental problems
- 9 Gender issues in work and organizations
- 10 Social psychology of health and illness
- 11 Social psychology and mental health
- 12 Social psychology and modern organizations: balancing between innovativeness and comfort
- 13 Social psychology and the study of politics
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
The application of social psychology to the study of politics is at the heart of the discipline called political psychology. Political psychology has been defined as the ‘application of what is known about human psychology to the study of politics’ (Sears, Huddy & Jervis, 2003, p. 3). Social psychology has been a more influential source of inspiration for the study of politics than any other subfield of psychology. Insights from social psychology have been of paramount importance in the study of both political elites and mass political behaviour. The many topics that have thus been studied include political socialization, public opinion, voting behaviour, collective political action, ideology, prejudice, political campaigns, presidential performance, policy making, conflict resolution, terrorism and genocide (see Jost & Sidanius, 2004). By providing insights about the psychological processes involved, social psychology has contributed to our understanding of all these aspects of politics. Several of those insights have been used in attempts to change political attitudes and political behaviour that are considered undesirable, such as racial prejudice, low voter turnout and political violence.
In this chapter we focus on three topics that have been central to political psychology: political leadership, voting behaviour and ideology. We discuss how different types of psychological studies have contributed to understanding these crucial aspects of politics. The field of political psychology comprises at least four different types of studies. First, some psychological studies are not directly about politics but contribute significantly to our understanding of political processes.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Applied Social PsychologyUnderstanding and Managing Social Problems, pp. 291 - 315Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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