Politics

Political Psychology

Module code: L3013
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay

Political psychology brings political science and psychology together.

On this module, you’ll explore the concepts, theories and approaches that social scientists use to study the political world.Through this, you’ll analyse key issues in political psychology and their real applications.

Topics include:

• the history of political psychology
• personality in elites and mass publics
• belief systems
• the structure of political attitudes and attitude change
• mass media
• the determinants of vote choice and participatory behaviour in general
• the role of emotions in political behaviour.

You’ll also study political cognition, political affectivity, information processing and decision making.

Module learning outcomes

• Develop a familiarity with the main concepts, principles, theories and methods used in used in political psychology research
• Have an appreciation of the different scholarly perspectives and explanations on various topics in political psychology as well as develop an understanding of how political psychology research is conducted and applied to analyse recent political dynamics and events
• Identify the major debates in the field of political psychology
• Apply relevant concepts and methodological approaches to their own research proposal
• Apply their knowledge of political psychology to the exploration of current political affairs and research puzzles
• Develop critical reading and writing skills (assessing empirical research quality, writing scholarly papers, communication through participation in group discussions)