POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. The survey course on political psychology is organized around three main themes. The first is social influence and intrinsic predispositions: obedience, conformity, social pressure, authoritarianism, and personality traits. The second theme concerns the manner in which people interpret new information about politics and use it to update their beliefs and evaluations. This section invites discussion of topics such as: To what extent and in what ways do media and politicians manipulate citizens? Can and do voters use information shortcuts to compensate for their lack of direct information about policies? The third theme is the meaning, measurement, and expression of ideology and prejudice.