SUBJECT

Political Psychology

lecture

master

Faculty of Education and Psychology

4

Semester 1

Autumn semester

Aim of the course:

Our goal is to provide the students of this course with an expansive review about the most important social psychological approaches studying political behavior. Characteristic problems and topics of political psychology are discussed at an individual-, intergroup-, and societal-level, while the most important cognitive, affective, and behavioral bases of political behavior are also presented. As a result, the participants of this course gain enough knowledge in the field of political psychology to analyze the broader societal background of individual behavior.

Learning outcome, competences

knowledge:

• up to date knowledge of contemporary political psychology
• insight into related fields of research like political science, political sociology, and political communication

attitude:

• openness to interdisciplinary approaches
• sensitivity to the societal context of social behavior

skills:

• application of political psychological knowledge in the process of understanding different social and/or societal phenomena
• analysis of the societal and political background of individual behavior

Content of the course

Topics of the course

• political psychology as science
• cognitive, affective, and motivational background of political behavior
• psychological analysis of different types of political regimes
• public opinion
• political conflict and conflict resolution
• political communication

Learning activities, learning methods

frontal lecture, group discussion, individual work

Evaluation of outcomes

Learning requirements, mode of evaluation, criteria of evaluation:

requirements

• written exam at the end of the semester
• individual work (essay or presentation)

mode of evaluation:

• result of the written exam (60%); quality of the individual work (40%)

criteria of evaluation:

• level of proficiency and quality of the individual work
• result of the written exam

Compulsory reading list

• Jost, J.T., & Sidanius, J. (szerk, 2004) Political psychology: Key readings. New York: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.
• Huddy, L., Sears, D. O., & Levy, J. S. (szerk, 2013). The Oxford handbook of political psychology. Oxford University Press.

Recommended reading list

• Cottam, M. L., Mastors, E., Preston, T., & Dietz, B. (2015). Introduction to political psychology. Routledge.
• Houghton, D. P. (2014). Political psychology: situations, individuals, and cases. Routledge.