'Different aspects of voter behavior' were discussed

The panel titled 'Voters’ Behaviors in Different Aspects' organized by the Positive Psychology Club was held in the Socrates Hall of the South Campus. As a speaker to the panel, Advisor to the Rector, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, Head of the Department of Psychology (English) Asst. Prof. Merve Çebi and Asst. Prof. Member Meltem Narter participated. In the panel, voters’ behaviors in societies, voters' view of leaders and social trauma, neuroscientific foundations of voter behavior were discussed.

Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan: "During election periods, the ballot boxes become almost sacred"

Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan made her remakrs on the voters' view of leaders and social trauma and said "During election periods, the ballot boxes become almost sacred. In societies like ours, going to the polls is the most important condition for protecting rights. This election is a prerequisite for democracy. Democracy is what we call the power of the people. However, we all know that democracy is not just one type. In the past, something came to life in our minds when we talked about democracy. Now we can at least divide it into liberal democracies and illiberal democracies because in liberal democracies, we are talking about structures in which democratic rules apply at all levels of social life that do not require people to renounce their fundamental rights. In illiberal democracies, it is seen that people go to the polls and vote, in a sense, they choose their king, their immortal gods. The ballot box does not constitute the state, and the state does not leave the ballot box. The administrators come out of the ballot box, and the state is a much deeper mechanism.”.

Prof. Arıboğan: "You are heading towards what you were born into..."

Drawing attention to the importance of socio-economic and socio-cultural factors of voting behavior, Prof. Arıboğan said that "Socio-economic factors are very important in voting behavior. Level of education, level of modernization, gender, profession... These are the determining factors. Another important factor is socio-cultural factors; belief, religion, sect are factors that take place through the great group we are a part of and the meanings we attach to it. You are heading towards what you were born into."

Dr. Merve Çebi: "Making decisions is not only a rational but also an emotional process"

Making her remarks on 'Political behavior and the brain: Neuroscientific foundations of voter behavior', Asst. Prof. Member Merve Çebi stated that a very critical election awaits us for the future of the country and that naturally the interest in political psychology and political neuroscience has increased even more. Çebi, who summarized António Damásio's 'Somatic Marker Hypothesis' in her speech, said: "When making political choices, let's consider people's decision-making processes from a neuroscientific perspective. Making decisions is not only a rational thought, but also an emotional process. There is one hypothesis about the influence of emotions on decision-making that every neuroscientist admires, and that is António Damásio's 'Somatic Marker Hypothesis.' Most of the studies have generally been on comparing liberals and conservative groups. Conservatism is translated to conserve, but we see the group it represents a little differently, we use it more to describe religious voters. However, it corresponds to a broader meaning. In the liberal group, it goes more through rights, law, liberty and justice. In general, they observe that the conservative group is especially influenced by the amygdala when they compare the decision-making processes of these people. The liberal group was observed to be a bit more resilient, risk-taking. Conservative people are much more sensitive to stimuli that create sudden stress, liberals do not see that much increase.".

Dr. Meltem Narter: "Political stance is a very important tool of social identity"

Asst. Prof. Meltem Narter made evaluations about voter behavior in different societies and made statements by emphasizing concepts such as citizenship, social identity and political stance. Narter said that: "Cultural structuring is a product of human beings. The need to live and be fair in accordance with the law is shaped by three basic ideological structures; security, freedom and equality. The question of citizenship is a question of identity from the point of view of social psychology. What we call identity is the decision that a person makes in social behaviors in relation to certain groups to which one belongs, to which one feels. Social identity systematics usually refers to a structure in which we cognitively perceive ourselves positively because we belong. Political standing is a very important tool of social identity. Social identity is also the supreme guarantee of the decisions we can work for and what we want to shape our lives with in the future. The decisions that voters are going to make right now, the ones that we, as scientists, are trying to understand: 'What is human political behavior? What is human voter behavior?' It does not lead us to a very revealing point. What did we choose to make this decision while creating this phenomenon of identity? The decision we make socially is actually nothing more than validation. It is mainly revealed who will approve of you in your own circle because it takes courage to make decisions within the normative values we are in. It takes courage to stay outside the norm or fight for something that will not be approved. Thus, you need to be able to understand the reference points that are presented to you in order to choose what we can adapt to in voter behavior. It is through these behaviors that it is clear whether a person has a decision about what kind of world they want to live in.".

The panel organized by the Positive Psychology Club was followed with great interest by the participants.

The panel was completed with a question and answer session.

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)