Political Psychology

David Patrick Houghton is Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies at the Department of Defence Studies at King's College London.

What shapes political behavior more: the situations in which individuals find themselves, or the internal psychological makeup---beliefs, values, and so on---of those individuals? This is perhaps the leading division within the psychological study of politics today. Political Psychology: Situations, Individuals, and Cases, 2nd edition, provides a concise, readable, and conceptually organized introduction to the topic of political psychology by examining this very question. Houghton's clear and engaging examples directly challenge students to place themselves in both real and hypothetical situations which involve intense moral and political dilemmas. The new edition includes a new chapter on the psychology of the media and communication. Houghton has also updated the text to analyze recent political events such as the 2012 election, and to include up-and-coming research in the areas of neuroscience, behavioral economics, and more.

Introduction. 1. Two Conceptual Schemes or Distinctions. 2. A Brief History of the Discipline. PART I: The Situation. 3. Behaviorism and Human Freedom. 4. The Psychology of Obedience. 5. Creating a "Bad Barrel". 6. Group Decision-Making. PART II: The Individual. 7. Psychobiography. 8. Personality and Beliefs. 9. Cognition. 10. Affect and Emotion. 11. Neuropolitics, Biopolitics and Genopolitics. PART III: Bringing the Two Together. 12. The Psychology of Voting Behavior. 13. The Psychology of Political Communication, Persuasion and the Mass Media. 14. The Psychology of Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Genocide. 15. The Psychology of Racism and Political Intolerance. 16. The Psychology of Terrorism. 17. The Psychology of International Security. 18. The Future of Political Psychology.