
Contents
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1. What Is Political Psychology? 1. What Is Political Psychology?
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2. Intellectual Underpinnings of Political Psychology 2. Intellectual Underpinnings of Political Psychology
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2.1. Rational Choice 2.1. Rational Choice
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2.2. Biopolitics 2.2. Biopolitics
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2.3. Personality and Psychodynamics 2.3. Personality and Psychodynamics
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2.4. Cognitive and Affective Psychology 2.4. Cognitive and Affective Psychology
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2.4.1. Cognitive Economy 2.4.1. Cognitive Economy
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2.4.2. Implicit Attitudes and Automaticity 2.4.2. Implicit Attitudes and Automaticity
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2.4.3. Spreading Activation and Habitual Association 2.4.3. Spreading Activation and Habitual Association
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2.4.4. Interplay of Affect and Cognition 2.4.4. Interplay of Affect and Cognition
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2.5. Intergroup Relations 2.5. Intergroup Relations
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3. Organization of This Volume 3. Organization of This Volume
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References References
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1 Introduction: Theoretical Foundations of Political Psychology
Get accessLeonie Huddy is a Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Survey Research at Stony Brook University. She has written numerous articles and book chapters on political psychology, with a focus on the politics of intergroup relations. Huddy’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, she is editor of the Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, past editor of the journal, Political Psychology, past-president of the International Society for Political Psychology, and serves on the American National Election Studies (ANES) Board of overseers and numerous editorial boards in political science.
David O. Sears is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a co-author of Obama’s Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of a Post-Racial America (2010) and The Diversity Challenge (2008). He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University, and is a former president of the International Society for Political Psychology, and a former Dean of Social Sciences at UCLA.
Jack S. Levy is Board of Governors' Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. He is past-president of the International Studies Association and of the Peace Science Society. Levy studies the causes of interstate war and foreign policy decision-making, including prospect theory, misperception and war, intelligence failure, learning from history, and time horizons. His most recent books include Causes of War (2010) and The Arc of War: Origins, Escalation, and Transformation (2011), each co-authored with William R. Thompson.
Jennifer Jerit, Dartmouth College
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Published:18 September 2023
Cite
Abstract
This chapter serves as an introduction to the Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology. It provides an overview of the field, focusing on key theories, topics, and empirical approaches. The chapter begins by defining political psychology as the behavior of individuals within a specific political system. This is followed by a lengthy discussion on the major intellectual underpinnings of political psychology in biopolitics, personality, cognitive and affective psychology, and intergroup relations. These approaches are often contrasted with a rational approach to human behavior and help to explain why human political behavior often falls short of the democratic ideal. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the volume’s organization and an overview of its specific chapters.
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