Synopses & Reviews
Political psychology applies what is known about human psychology to the study of politics. It examines how people reach political decisions on topics such as voting, party identification, and political attitudes as well as how leaders mediate political conflicts and make foreign policy decisions.
The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology gathers together a distinguished group of scholars from around the world to shed light on these vital questions. Focusing first on political psychology at the individual level (attitudes, values, decision-making, ideology, personality) and then moving to the collective (group identity, mass mobilization, political violence), this fully interdisciplinary volume covers models of the mass public and political elites and addresses both domestic issues and foreign policy.
Now with new material providing an up-to-date account of cutting-edge research within both psychology and political science, this is an essential reference for scholars and students interested in the intersection of the two fields.
Review
"At no time in history has understanding the psychological sources of political behavior been more important than today. Fortunately, during the last half-century, a tremendous amount of exciting research has conducted psychological analyses of a range of important political phenomena, from intergroup conflict to international relations to public opinion and elections and much more. Featuring an all-star cast of editors and authors, this volume does a terrific job of capturing the breadth, energy, and vitality of political psychology today. Their thoughtful reviews of the literature will no doubt set the course for the most important new work in the future."--Jon A. Krosnik, Professor of Psychology and Political Science, Ohio State University
"Reading the landmark Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology one sees that political psychology, as a distinct sub-discipline, has truly come of age. From the sprightly introduction by editors David Sears, Leonie Huddy, and Robert Jervis to the brilliant epilogue by Robert Lane, the volume is aglow with fascinating theory and data. The information is current, comprehensive, and accessible. This will certainly serve for some years to come as the primary reference source in political psychology for students and scholars throughout the social sciences." --Professor Faye J Crosby, University of California, Santa Cruz
"No student of political psychology can afford not to own this authoritative, state-of-the-art, distillation of this important field."--Fred Greenstein, Princeton University
"An extremely valuable resource to faculty and students who teach and conduct research on political psychology. It provides a detailed overview of the history and current state of knowledge of the many niches of political psychological inquiry and contains a vast store of up-to-date bibliographic information." --Laura Stoker, University of California at Berkeley
"This is the first handbook of political psychology to be commissioned by the main International Society of Political Psychology since the 1986 review volume edited by M. G. Hermann. The editors and authors have responded with high quality, up-to-date reviews both of classical topics (e.g., conflict resolution, personality and politics, persuasive communication) and of newly fashionable topics (e.g., evolutionary approaches, genocide, gender effects). Students and their teachers will mine its individual gems for decades and will find that the Handbook defines what has been done, what is being done, and even what will be done in political psychology."-William J. McGuire, Yale University
"With 21 concise chapters on topics ranging from the nature of emotions to the dynamics of international conflict, the Handbook takes stock of the discipline, sets the agenda for the next generation of research, and makes a compelling case for the continuing relevance of psychology to the study of politics and society." --Dennis Chong, Northwestern University
About the Author
Leonie Huddy is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Survey Research at Stony Brook University.
David O. Sears is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Political Science, UCLA .
Jack S. Levy is Board of Governors' Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Theoretical Foundations of Political Psychology
Leonie Huddy, David O. Sears, and Jack S. Levy
Theoretical Approaches
2. Personality Approaches to Political Behavior
Gian Vittorio Caprara and Michele Vecchione
3. Childhood and Adult Political Development
David O. Sears and Christia Brown
4. Rational Choice Theory and Political Psychology
Dennis Chong
5. Behavioral Decision Making
David P. Redlawsk and Richard R. Lau
6. Emotion and Political Psychology
Ted Brader and George E. Marcus
7. Towards an Evolutionarily Informed Political Psychology
Jim Sidanius and Robert Kurzban
8. Genetic Foundations of Political Behavior
Carolyn L. Funk
9. Political Rhetoric
Susan Condor, Cristian Tileag?, and Michael Billig
International Relations
10. Psychology and Foreign Policy Decision-Making
Jack S. Levy
11. Perceptions and Image Theory in International Relations
Richard K. Herrmann
12. Threat Perception in International Relations
Janice Gross Stein
13. Crisis Management
Stephen Benedict Dyson and Paul 'T Hart
14. Personality Profiles of Political Elites
David G. Winter
15. Psychobiography: "The Child is Father of the Man"
Jerrold M. Post
16. Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Ronald J. Fisher, Herbert C. Kelman, and Susan Allen Nan
Mass Political Behavior
17. Political Information Processing
Charles S. Taber and Everett Young
18. Political Communication: Form and Consequence of the
Information Environment
Nicholas A. Valentino and Yioryos Nardis
19. Political Ideology
Stanley Feldman
20. Social Justice
Tom R. Tyler and Jojanneke van der Toorn
21. Networks, Interdependence, and Social Influence in Politics
Robert Huckfeldt, Jeffery J. Mondak, Matthew Hayes,
Matthew T. Pietryka, and Jack Reilly
22. Political Deliberation
C. Daniel Myers and Tali Mendelberg
Intergroup Relations
23. From Group Identity to Political Cohesion and Commitment
Leonie Huddy
24. Social Movements and the Dynamics of Collective Action
Bert Klandermans and Jacquelien van Stekelenburg
25. Prejudice and Politics
Donald R. Kinder
26. Migration and Multiculturalism
Eva G.T. Green and Christian Staerklé
27. Discrimination: Conditions, Consequences and 'Cures'
Ananthi Al Ramiah and Miles Hewstone
28. The Psychology of Intractable Conflicts: Eruption,
Escalation and Peacemaking
Daniel Bar-Tal and Eran Halperin