Political Psychology: Situations, Individuals, and Cases

by Houghton; David Patrick

• ISBN13: 9780415990141
• ISBN10: 0415990149
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2008-12-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

What shapes political behavior more: the situations in which individuals find themselves, or the internal psychological makeup-beliefs, values, and so on-of those individuals? This is perhaps the leading division within the psychological study of politics today. Political Psychology: Situations, Individuals, and Cases provides a concise, readable, and conceptually-organized introduction to the topic of political psychology by examining this very question.Using this situationism-dispositionism framework'”which roughly parallels the concerns of social and cognitive psychology'”this book focuses on such key explanatory mechanisms as behaviorism, obedience, personality, groupthink, cognition, affect, emotion, and neuroscience to explore topics ranging from voting behavior and racism to terrorism and international relations.Houghton's clear and engaging examples directly challenge students to place themselves in both real and hypothetical situations which involve intense moral and political dilemmas. This highly readable text will provide students with the conceptual foundation they need to make sense of the rapidly changing and increasingly important field of political psychology.David Patrick Houghton is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Florida.

Author Biography

David Patrick Houghton is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Florida

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Conceptual Scheme of This Book	p. 3
A Brief History of the Discipline	p. 22
The Situation	p. 35
Behaviorism and Human Freedom	p. 37
The Psychology of Obedience	p. 46
Creating a "Bad Barrel"	p. 57
Group Decision-Making	p. 69
The Individual	p. 83
Psychobiography	p. 85
Personality and Beliefs	p. 101
Cognition	p. 114
Affect and Emotion	p. 132
Neuroscience	p. 143
Bringing the Two Together	p. 155
The Psychology of Voting Behavior	p. 157
The Psychology of Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Genocide	p. 168
The Psychology of Racism and Political Intolerance	p. 184
The Psychology of Terrorism	p. 201
The Psychology of International Relations	p. 216
Conclusion: A Personal View	p. 232
Notes	p. 242
Index	p. 267
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