The Psychology of Politics POLITIC4184

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Social and Political Sciences
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course explores how human psychology affects political outcomes ranging from voting and ideology to nationalism and conflict.

Timetable

Seminar: two hours per week, for 10 weeks x 2

Requirements of Entry

Entry to Honours Politics or International Relations requires a grade point average of 12 (Grade C) over Politics 2A and Politics 2B as a first attempt.

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Essay, 2,500 words (50%)

Exam (50%)

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable for Honours courses

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the interdisciplinary subfield of political psychology. Students will learn about psychological phenomena such as emotions, personalities, political cognition, and identities and will discover how to use these concepts to illuminate political events and explain political outcomes.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Describe and explain psychological theories of emotion, personality, identity, cognition and information processing, belief systems, and authoritarianism.

■ Apply psychological theories and concepts to explain political phenomena.

■ Critically evaluate existing psychological explanations of political phenomena.

■ Synthesise academic research on a topic in political psychology.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.