This seminar is earmarked for NECD, IP, DR, NP
Description
Political scientists often study politics from a structural perspective and look at institutions, laws, economy, social structures, organizations and so on. All these structures, however, are made by people and, more importantly, these are made to influence human behavior. From that structural point of view, human behavior is often understood as rational calculation. Predictable and generalizable.
Psychology teaches us that human rationality in the strictest sense doesn’t exist. People are confined by their own psychological makeup (like personalities, traits, beliefs, biases, and so on), and people at large are influenced by all kinds of psychological mechanisms that they are not always consciously aware of (in-out group bias, group dynamics, and so on). This goes for you and me, but also for everyone in politics.
This seminar introduces you to a selection of psychological theories that are used within political and social psychology to describe and explain the psychological mechanisms that can drive politics. At the start of the seminar, you’ll be invited to participate in an experiment of my colleagues of social psychology which tests on of the mechanisms we will focus on during the seminar. During the lectures, we discuss together how the insights of the selection of theories can help us understand how psychological mechanisms can impact politics and reflect upon our own awareness about these mechanisms in our social and political life.In smaller group settings, you work together to design an experimental setting to test a psychological mechanism of choice.
Please note that I expect all students to come to class prepared and ready to exchange thoughts and reflections. To support this process, we use student presentations. And it might be good to know that a lot (but not all) of the literature is based on quantitative methodology (such as experiments), it’s therefore helpful if you know how to read and understand these studies.
Objectives
Objective 1: Students will learn to think about and reflect on:
The role of individuals within politics
How psychological mechanisms can impact political behavior.
Objective 2: Students will acquire the following skills:Understand how psychological theories can be used to understand political behavior
Learn to set up an experimental design to test a psychological mechanism.
Method of instruction
Seminar, class discussion, student presentations, participation in an experiment, group work.
Study Material
Journal articles and book chapters.
The reading list and the course syllabus will be posted on Brightspace before the start of the course.
Assessment Method
Your final grade is based on:
Participation: 20%
Group assignment: 40%
Final exam: 40%
Registration
See 'Practical Information'
Timetable
See 'MyTimetable'