This course aims to help students to have a better understanding of the political world from the lens of political psychology, a field at the intersection of political science and social psychology. By using different types of methods in political psychology, this course teaches psychological theories that help us understand how people think and feel about politics.
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to understand how people think and feel about politics. The primary goal of this course is to acquaint the student with various ways in which psychological theory contributes to the understanding of politics and vice versa. One feature that makes political psychology particularly important to study is that it speaks to so many aspects of political phenomena – from Turkish politics to comparative studies to international relations. In this class, we will consider how politics works at the micro level – within the minds of both political elites and average citizens. Course objectives include the following tasks: to become more knowledgeable about the field of political psychology-its definition, its various domains of study, and its methodologies; to examine the impact of personality on political behavior; to become familiar with the role of social cognition, social influences, and social relations in political behavior; to examine the myriad of actors involved in the political psychology of groups; to become familiar with the various psychological and political factors influencing voting behavior; to explore the political psychology of race and ethnicity; to examine the impact of political psychology as it is related to broader international concerns such as nationalism, extremism, and conflict. Overall, the course will advance student’s knowledge of the political world by introducing interdisciplinary approaches and theoretical debates.
Vertical Tabs
Course Learning Outcomes
| Learning Outcomes |
Program
Learning Outcomes |
Teaching Methods | Assessment Methods |
| Define the subjects in each particular group. | 1, 3 | 1,2,3 | A, C, D |
| Identify the logical relationships among the subjects in each group and among the subjects groups. | 4, 5, 10 | 1,2,3 | A, C, D |
| Label and list the subjects in organizing his curriculum. | 1, 2, 3, 4 | 1,2,3 | A, C, D |
| Associate and differentiate various subjects in each group as well as among the groups. | 9, 10, 11 | 1,2,3 | A, C, D |
| Interpret each subject and locate or rearrange them into one and specific curriculum. | 8, 9, 10 | 1,2,3 | A, C, D |
| Making generalizations with comparative purpose. | 9, 10, 11 | 1,2,3 | A, C, D |
Course Flow
| COURSE CONTENT | ||
| Week | Topics | Study Materials |
| 1 | Historical Overview and Theoretical Foundations |
Jost & Sidanius - Reading 1 (W.J. McGuire)
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapter 1 (Huddy, Sears & Levy)
Simon, Herbert. 1985. Human nature in politics: The dialogue of psychology and political science. American Political Science Review 79: 293-304.
Erişen, C. (2013) The Political Psychology of Turkish Political Behavior: Intro by the Special Issue Editor. Turkish Studies14(1): 1-12.
|
| 2 | Research Methods in Political Psychology |
Johnson, Janet Buttolph and H.T. Reynolds with J.D. Mycoff. (2008) Political Science Research Methods. 6th Edition. CQ Press: Washington DC.
Erişen, C., Erişen E., and Özkeçeci-Taner, B. (2013) Research Methods in Political Psychology. Turkish Studies 14(1): 13-33
Krosnick, Jon (1999) Survey Research. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 537-567. Druckman, Green, Kuklinski, & Lupia (2011) Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science, Chapters 1 and 2. |
| 3 | Personality, Conformity and Obedience |
Jost & Sidanius - Reading 2 (Brown) and Reading 4 (Altemeyer)
Mondak, Jeffery J. (2010). Personality and the Foundations of Political Behavior. Cambridge University Press. Chapters. 1-3. Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapters 14 and 15 |
| 4 | Ideology and Biopolitics |
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapter 19 (Feldman)
Jost, John T., Glaser, Jack, Kruglanski, Arie, and Sulloway, Frank. (2003) Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition. Psychological Bulletin.
Hurwitz, Jon and Peffley, Mark. (1987) How are Foreign Policy Attitudes Structured? A Hierarchical Model. American Political Science Review, 81: 1099-1110.
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapter 8 (Funk)
Fowler, James and Darren Schreiber. (2008) “Biology, Politics, and the Emerging Science of Human Nature.” Science, 7. 912-914. |
| 5 | Prejudice, Ethnocentrism, and Group Conflict |
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapter 23 (Huddy)
Sherif, Muzafer, O.J. Harvey, B. Jack White, William R. Hood, Carolyn W. Sherif. (1961) Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation: The Robbers Cave Experiment. In Classics in the History of Psychology. Christopher D. Green, Ed (Chapters 2-6).
Jost & Sidanius - Reading 16 (Tajfel & Turner)
Jost & Sidanius - Reading 18 (Sidanius & Pratto)
|
| 6 | Emotions |
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapter 6 (Brader and Marcus)
Jost & Sidanius - Reading 9 (G.E. Marcus and M.C. MacKuen)
Brader, Ted. (2005) “Striking a Responsive Chord: How Campaign Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by Appealing to Emotions.” American Journal of Political Science, 42, 2.
Erisen, C., M. Lodge, & C. Taber (2014) Affective Contagion in Effortful Political Thinking. Political Psychology, 35(2): 187-206.
Huddy, Leonie, Stanley Feldman, and Erin Cassese. 2007. “On the Distinct Political Effects of Anxiety and Anger.” In W. Russel Neuman, George E. Marcus, Ann Crigler, and Michael MacKuen, eds, The Affect Effect: Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Erisen, C. (2013) “Emotions as a Determinant in Turkish Political Behavior” Turkish Studies 14(1): 115-135. |
| 7 | Motivated Biases, Voting Behavior, and Electoral Decisions |
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapter 5 (Redlawsk & Lau)
Lodge, Milton, M. R. Steenbergen, & S. Brau. (1995) “The Responsive Voter: Campaign Information and the Dynamics of Candidate Evaluation.” American Political Science Review 89: 309-326.
Lodge, Milton and Charles Taber. (2006) “Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs. American Journal of Politics Science.
Suhay, E. and Erisen, C. (2018) The role of anger in the biased assimilation of political information. Political Psychology. 39(4): 793-810. |
| 8 | MID TERM EXAM | |
| 9 | Political Tolerance and Immigration |
Gibson, J.L. (2006) Enigmas of Intolerance: Fifty years after Stouffer’s Communism, Conformity, and Civil Liberties, Perspectives on Politics, 4(1): 21-34.
Peffley, M. & Rohrschneider, R. (2003) Democratization and Political Tolerance in Seventeen Countries: A Multi-level Model of Democratic Learning. Political Research Quarterly 56, 243-257. Erisen, C. Political Behavior and the Emotional Citizen. Chapter 5.
Erisen, C. & Erdogan, E. (2019) Growing perceived threat and prejudice as sources of intolerance: evidence from the 2015 Turkish general elections. Turkish Studies. |
| 10 | Immigration |
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapter 26 (Green & Starklé)
Brader, Ted, Nicholas Valentino and Elizabeth Suhay. (2008) “What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat.” American Journal of Political Science.
Erisen, C. and Kentmen-Cin, C. (2017) Tolerance and perceived threat toward Muslim immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands. European Union Politics.
Niklas Harder, Lucila Figueroa, Rachel M. Gillum, Dominik Hangartner, David D. Laitin, and Jens Hainmueller. (2018) Multidimensional measure of immigrant integration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(45): 11483-11488. |
| 11 | Conspiracy Beliefs and Misinformation in a Populist Era |
Nyhan, B. & Reifler, J. (2010) When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions. Political Behavior 32(2): 303-330.
Miller, J., Saunders, K., Farhard, C. (2016). Conspiracy Endorsement as Motivated Reasoning: The Moderating Roles of Political Knowledge and Trust. American Journal of Political Science 60(4): 824-844.
Douglas, Karen M., et al. (2019) Understanding Conspiracy Theories. Advances in Political Psychology. 40 (Supplement 1), 3-35.
Butler, M. & Knight, P. (2019) The History of Conspiracy Theory Research (Chapter 2) In Uscinsky, J. (ed.) Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them |
| 12 | Political Psychological Foundations of Populism |
Hawkins et al. (2018). The Ideational Approach to Populism. Chapters 1 and 7.
Bakker, B. N., Rooduijn, M., & Schumacher, G. (2016). The psychological roots of populist voting: Evidence from the United States, the Netherlands and Germany. European Journal of Political Research, 55 (2), 302–320.
Van Hauwaert, Steven & Van Kessel, Stijn. (2018). Beyond protest and discontent: A cross-national analysis of the effect of populist attitudes and issue positions on populist party support. European Journal of Political Research, 57: 68–92 |
| 13 | Foreign Policy and Risk Taking |
Huddy et al., Oxford Handbook, Chapters 10, 11, and 12.
Jost & Sidanius - Reading 14 (Quattrone and Tversky) |
| 14 | Review | |
| 15 | Conclusion | |
Recommended Sources
| RECOMMENDED SOURCES | |
| Textbook |
Huddy, L., Sears, D. & Levy, J. (Editors) (2013) Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. (Second Edition) New York: Oxford University Press.
Jost, J.T. & Sidanius, J. (Editors) (2004). Political Psychology: Key Readings. New York: Psychology Press.
Sullivan, John L., Wendy M. Rahn, and Thomas J. Rudolph. 2002. “The contours of political psychology: Situating research on political information processing. In James H. Kuklinski, ed., Thinking about Political Psychology. London: Cambridge University Press
Druckman, Green, Kuklinski, & Lupia (2011) Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science.
Mondak, Jeffery J. (2010). Personality and the Foundations of Political Behavior. Cambridge University Press.
Sherif, Muzafer, O.J. Harvey, B. Jack White, William R. Hood, Carolyn W. Sherif. (1961) Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation: The Robbers Cave Experiment. In Classics in the History of Psychology. Christopher D. Green, Ed
W. Russel Neuman, George E. Marcus, Ann Crigler, and Michael MacKuen, eds, The Affect Effect: Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Erisen, C. Political Behavior and the Emotional Citizen
Uscinsky, J. (ed.) Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them
Hawkins et al. (2018). The Ideational Approach to Populism.
|
| Additional Resources |
Tourangeau, Rips, and Rasinski (2000) The Psychology of Survey Response. Cambridge University Press: New York
S. Milgram, Obedience to Authority, Harper Perennial; P. Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Random House. Serif Mardin, Ideology, Turhan Kitabevi
C. Erisen & P. Kubicek (2016) Democratic Consolidation in Turkey: Micro and Macro Challenges, Routledge |
Material Sharing
| MATERIAL SHARING | |
| Documents | - |
| Assignments | 3 Lecture Assignments |
| Exams | 1 Midterm and 1 Final Exam |
Assessment
| ASSESSMENT | ||
| IN-TERM STUDIES | NUMBER | PERCENTAGE |
| Mid-term | 1 | 30 |
| Lecture Assignments | 3 | 30 |
| Total | 60 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF FINAL EXAMINATION TO OVERALL GRADE | 40 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF IN-TERM STUDIES TO OVERALL GRADE | 60 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Course’s Contribution to Program
| COURSE'S CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM | |||||||
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 1 | The ability to analyze and critically evaluate basic research models, approaches and intellectual traditions in the field of political science, international relations, comparative politics, Turkish politics and foreign policy. To demonstrate the ability to create innovative and original contribution to the field by specializing and expanding on these models and approaches. | X | |||||
| 2 | To demonstrate the ability to make original contributions to the field with an interdisciplinary approach. | X | |||||
| 3 | A command of basic research models and approaches of political science and international relations discipline and the ability to apply them in academic research and project design. | X | |||||
| 4 | Having the ability to compare, contrast and analyze societal and political systems with an interdisciplinary approach. | X | |||||
| 5 | Having a command of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods and abiding by the highest levels of academic and research ethics. | X | |||||
| 6 | The ability to contribute to the progress of the field of political science and international relations by conducting original and independent studies that produce original thought, methods, models, and applications to the field and/or utilize existing ideas, methods, models, and applications in another field of study. | X | |||||
| 7 | The ability to contribute to the progress of the field of political science and international relations by publishing at least one academic article at a refereed journal and/or by producing or interpreting an original contribution. | X | |||||
| 8 | To develop current and advanced level of data into original thought and research as a specialist. The ability to develop original ideas and methods in the field of political science and international relations. | X | |||||
| 9 | The ability to debate and make presentations within an intellectual framework, and the ability to express oneself in a professional and academic manner. The ability to apply academic writing and presentation methods to dissertations, articles, and project design. | X | |||||
| 10 | Having advanced reading, writing, comprehension and speaking skills in the English language. | X | |||||
| 11 | Having the ability to apply knowledge of political science and international relations discipline to information technologies and traditional tools so as to produce sound solutions to problems. | X | |||||
| 12 | Having the competency to work in the public sector, NGOs, research institutions and the academia. | X | |||||
| 13 | Having empathy towards diverse and differing communities, which will facilitate conducing teamwork at local as well as global platforms. | X | |||||
| 14 | Having competency of comprehending and interpreting local and global issues through information exchange with international academics and students. | X | |||||
ECTS
| ECTS ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD BY THE COURSE DESCRIPTION | |||
| Activities | Quantity |
Duration (Hour) |
Total Workload (Hour) |
| Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) | 15 | 3 | 45 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 15 | 15 | 225 |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Lecture assignments | 3 | 25 | 75 |
| Final examination | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Total Workload | 365 | ||
| Total Workload / 25 (h) | 14.6 | ||
| ECTS Credit of the Course | 15 | ||