Political Psychology

This course will allow students to understand and apply psychological theories to the study of politics, public opinion, and political behaviour in Canada and cross-nationally. It will introduce students to prominent models of information acquisition, like dual processing and motivated reasoning, and to the psychological foundations of public opinion, such as socialization, group identities and conflict, personality, values, and emotions. Students will also gain familiarity with current debates on topics like polarization and extremism, prejudice, misinformation and conspiracy theories, and authoritarianism. As a methods class, students will also gain knowledge of the fundamentals of experimental design.