Political Psychology (335-0-1)
Instructors
Matthew R Pryor
Meeting Info
555 Clark B01: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
How do campaign advertisements influence voters' perceptions and behavior? What roles do emotions play in politics? Do we all harbor some measure of racism, sexism, or homophobia, and what role do these stereotypes play in political behavior? How and why do ideologies form, and how does partisanship influence the way that voters understand the political world? How do people perceive threat, and what are the psychological consequences of terrorism?
These questions all concern the psychological foundations of political phenomena in everyday life. Determining the psychological factors that drive people's political attitudes and behaviors have long been a central question in understanding everyday human behavior, and remains so today. This seminar-based course will cover foundational topics in the psychology of politics, including the psychological profiles of liberals and conservatives, morality, political behavior (e.g., voting), social stability and change, and stereotyping and prejudice.
Learning Objectives
- students will learn how to use psychological theory to critically analyze and understand political phenomena in everyday life, ranging from how and why people vote to the ways in which a person's political ideology might inform their behaviors
- students will learn about and discuss the importance of using scientific methods to empirically examine political questions
- students will work to understand how scientific methods can be most effectively employed to test different types of research questions, as well as the hurdles that researchers must work to overcome
Teaching Method
Seminar/ Discussion with some lecture
Evaluation Method
Attendance, Participation, Exams and or papers
Class Attributes
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area