Political Science 474G, Political Psychology, CB 212
Spring, 2008, TR 12:30 - 1:45
Professor Mark Peffley, 1653 Patterson, 257-7033
Office Hours: TR 2:00-3:00, mark.peffley@uky.edu
CLASS WEB-PAGE
The syllabus is posted at my
web-site (http://www.uky.edu/AS/PoliSci/Peffley/
), where new material (e.g., lecture outlines, exam review questions, written
assignments) is posted and updated throughout the semester. Please
bookmark the syllabus and check it regularly.
Description
The subject matter of this
course is the intersection of two disciplines: psychology and political science.
We draw from theories and research in human psychology—such as personality,
cognitive psychology and intergroup relations, to explain a wide range of
political behavior—such as decision-making, elite biographies and leadership,
mass political behavior, mass communication effects, attitude change, and
intergroup conflicts involving race, gender and nationality. In this course, we
will adopt a fairly broad definition of "political behavior," one
that includes political attitudes, beliefs, and opinions as well as actual
behavior. This broad focus allows us to explore a variety of different
types of behavior and a variety of psychological concepts to explain that
behavior. For example, not only do we focus on conventional forms of
political activity, such as voting behavior, but we also spend a fair amount of
time trying to explain such forms of unconventional behavior as political
violence and aggression.
One goal of this course is to
understand and explain political behavior—to be able to answer the basic
question, Why do people exhibit different political behavior? Why isn't
everyone the same? Why are some people political "junkies" and
others political "couch potatoes?" Why do some people chafe and
rebel, while others practically begin goose-stepping at the slightest hint of
political authority? We will explore a variety of concepts and theories
in psychology in an attempt to explain why people are different politically.
Thus, one reason some people are more aggressive, obedient and politically intolerant
than others is that they have different personalities. Other explanations
are that they have different ideologies, stereotypes and prejudices; or
that they are “good” people who are pressured by their environment to do “evil”
things.
Readings
Three texts and many articles
and book chapters are required reading for the course. The texts are available
at the university bookstores.
In addition, a number of
articles and book chapters are required reading, some of which can be
downloaded from the following site, while others are available at the library.
Student
Responsibilities
1.
Graduate students should see me about additional readings and a research paper
requirement.
2.
Participation
Students are expected to
have read and considered the course readings in preparation for each class.
Students are also expected to participate in class discussions and to be ready
to do so on the subject of the day. Class participation is 10% of the grade and
will definitely influence borderline grades.
Our class time will not be
spent simply "going over" the assigned readings. Rather, the readings
will serve as a foundation and point of departure for lectures and discussions.
It is, therefore, imperative that students complete the assigned readings
before a particular topic is taken up in class. Also, the assigned readings
should not be viewed as absolute truth. Read the material thoughtfully,
challenge the conclusions of the authors, and voice your criticisms in class.
Students should feel free to
raise questions concerning the readings, the lectures, and the comments of
other students. In other words, meaningful participation is strongly encouraged
and will, no doubt, enhance the quality of our class sessions.
3. Examinations and Grades
Grades will be based on the
following criteria:
Midterm
40% of Grade
Final
Exam
50% of Grade
Class
Participation
10% of Grade
While class attendance is not
mandatory, exams will be based on both readings and class discussions. Also,
attendance and participation will definitely influence borderline grades.
If a student has a
university-excused absence, arrangements for a make-up exam may be made. (See Section 5.2.4.2, Part
II of the Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook for a definition of
university-excused absences.) Note, however, that the format of a make-up will
not be the same as the regular exam.
Tentative Reading List
I. Introduction: What is the Field of Political Psychology? Perspectives,
Methods. (3 classes)
Read:
¨ David O. Sears, Leonie Huddy and Robert Jervis, "The
Psychologies Underlying Political Psychology," Oxford Handbook of
Political Psychology, pp. 3-16.
¨ Rose McDermott. 2002. “EXPERIMENTAL
METHODS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE.” Annual Review of Political Science.
¨ David O. Sears. 1986. “College sophomores in the
laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on psychologists' views of
human nature.”
¨ Lecture Outline: Perspectives
& Methods
II. Rational Choice & Psychological Models of Decision-Making:
Empirical vs. Normative Models (1 week) Jan. 22
Read:
¨ Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy,
ch. 1, ch.
2, & ch. 3.
¨ Richard Lau, “Models of Decision-Making,”
Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, pp 19-59.
¨ Janis: Groupthink, Ch. 1 , ch
2, ch 6 (skim), & ch 8. pp. 2-47, 132-158, 174-197. (100 pp.)
(Ch. 2 analyzes the Bay of Pigs fiasco under Kennedy; Ch. 8 is the summary
chapter of the book; read these more carefully)
¨ Karen J. Alter, 9/16/2002. “Is 'groupthink'
driving us to war?” (brief, please read)
¨ Film: “No
End In Sight”
¨ Film: “The
Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”
¨
Shankar Vedantam. 2007. Washington Post.
“Hoping
Someone Else Fixes Everyone's Problem.” (skim)
¨
Lecture Outline: Decision-Making
(I’ve added a section on Groupthink)
III.
Biology & Politics (1 week)
1/31
Read:
¨ John R. Alford, Carolyn L. Funk, and John R. Hibbing.
2005. Are
political orientations genetically transmitted? American Political
Science Review 99: 153-68. (read)
¨ John Alford and John Hibbing. 2004. “The
Origin of Politics: An Evolutionary Theory of Political Behavior.” Perspectives
on Politics, 2: 707-723. (skim)
¨ John Alford and John Hibbing. 2008. THE NEW EMPIRICAL
BIOPOLITICS. The Annual Review of Political Science, 11 (2008).
(skim)
¨ NYT
articles: (read)
· Nicholas Wade. 2006. “Still
Evolving, Human Genes Tell New Story.” New York Times. (read)
· Amy Harmon. 2007. “In
DNA Era, New Worries About Prejudice.” New York Times. (read)
· Iacoboni, et al. 2007. “This
Is Your Brain on Politics.” New York Times. (skim)
·
Blakeslee. 2004.
“If
Your Brain Has a 'Buy Button,' What Pushes It?” New York Times.
(read)
·
PINKER. 2008. “The
Moral Instinct.” New York Times. (skim)
¨ Lecture
Outline: Biology and Politics
IV.
Personality: Psychobiography and
the Authoritarian Personality (3 classes) Jan. 7
Read:
¨ Psychobiography
· David Winter, "Personality
and Political Behavior," Oxford Handbook, pp. 110-145. (skim)
· David
Winter. 1987. “Leader
Appeal, Leader Performance, and the Motive Profile of Leaders and Followers:
A Study of American Presidents and Elections.” Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology 52: 196-202.
· Sigelman, Lee. 2002. "Two
Reagans? Genre Imperatives, Ghostwriters, and Presidential Personality
Profiling." Political Psychology 23(4): 839-851.
¨
Authoritarian Personality
· Todd Nelson, The Psychology of Prejudice ,
Ch.4, “The Prejudiced Personality,” 87-111.
· Bob Altemeyer. 1998. “The Other ‘Authoritarian
Personality.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 30:47-91.
(skim)
· Stanley Feldman & Karen Stenner. 1997. “Perceived
Threat and Authoritarianism.” Political Psychology 18 (4), 741–770.
(skim)
¨ General
· Greenstein, Fred. I. 1992. “Can
Personality Be Studied Systematically?” Political Psychology
13(1):105-28. (skim)
• Lecture Outline: Personality and
Politics
V. Affect & Emotion (1 week) Feb. 19 (not covered)
Read:
¨ Theory
·
George Marcus,
“The Psychology of Emotions and Politics,” Oxford Handbook, pp. 182-221.
¨ Applications
·
Leonie Huddy,
Stanley Feldman and Christopher Weber. 2007. “The
Political Consequences of Perceived Threat and Felt Insecurity.” The ANNALS
of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 614: 131-153.
·
Ted Brader. 2005.
“Striking
a Responsive Chord: How Political Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by
Appealing to Emotions.” American Journal of Political Science 49(2):388-405.
·
Patricia Cohen.
2007. NYT. “Counseling
Democrats to Go for the Gut.”
·
Vedantam. WP. 07.
“Hot
and Cold Emotions Make Us Poor Judges”
·
Vedantam. WP. 07.
“In
Politics, Aim for the Heart, Not the Head.”
·
Drew Westen. “The
neural basis of motivated reasoning_An fMRI study.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 18:1947-58.
Review Questions for Midterm
Exam
Midterm
Exam: February 28
Last day to
drop: March 7
VI.
The Political Psychology of Prejudice
(3
classes) March 25
Read:
¨ Todd Nelson. The Psychology of Prejudice, 2nd
ed, skip chs 7 & 10)
¨
Applications (not require reading)
· Race & Crime: Jennifer Eberhardt (http://www.stanford.edu/~eberhard/#crimelink)
· Political science research using a mass survey (in
Hurwitz & Peffley, eds., 1998)
· Kuklinski and Cobb. “When
White Southerners Converse About Race”.
·
At this
website, you can evaluate the Republican or Democratic fields using
a shortened version of the Implicit Association
Test. It’s fun and takes about 10 minutes.
Lecture
Outline: Political
Psychology of Prejudice
VII. Persuasion and Attitude Change: Theory and Applications (3 classes)
April 3
Read:
¨ Anthony1 R. Pratkanis & Elliot Aronson. Age
of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion,
(skip chs. 12-16, 22, 26-27, 29-32, 34-35,
39-40).
Lecture Outline: Persuasion
& propaganda
VIII. Group
Influences & Aggression (1 week): April 22
Read:
¨ Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority, chs 1-8
only.
April 25, Friday, 2:30PM, Markus
Prior, “Political Interest in Post-Broadcast Democracy” Attend for extra
credit!
April 24: Last Class!
May 1: Final Examination, Thursday, 1:00
to 3:00 in CB 212
