Political psychology

Encyclopedia : P : PO : POL : Political psychology

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Political psychology is an interdisciplinary academic field dedicated to the relationship between psychology and political science, with a focus on the role of human thought, emotion, and behavior in politics. It analyzes political science as related to entities such as voters, lawmakers, local and national governments and administrations, international organizations, political parties, and associations. While the grammar of "political psychology" tends to stress psychology as the central field, the discipline could also be accurately labeled "the psychology of politics," so as to more evenly recognize the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Also not fully conveyed by the label is the wide scope of the disciplines from which political psychology draws, including anthropology, cognitive and personality psychology, sociology, psychiatry, and other more distant fields such as economics, philosophy, and the arts.

History of political psychology

The cross-fertilization between political science and psychology has risen to a modestly active level since its beginnings in the 1940s, though both fields have traditionally had a wider magnitude of collaboration with other disciplines, such as history with political science, and sociology with psychology.

See also

• Community psychology
• Political economy
• Public choice

References