Political Psychology is a scientific discipline that examines the psychological origins and reflections of political issues, starting from the emotions, thoughts and behaviors of individuals to social attitudes that form large group identities and from there to political life. The most distinctive feature of this discipline is that it has an interdisciplinary character that encompasses many scientific fields such as social anthropology, history, sociology, communication, law, international relations and theology with a focus on psychology and political science. It is concerned with issues such as large group identity, leadership studies, political traumas, conflict analysis and resolution, as well as psychopolitical analysis of international relations. The field of Political Psychology focuses on the fault lines that unite and divide the political terrain on the basis of social identities, conflicts and alliances. The discipline of Political Psychology is historicist and origins-oriented due to its tendency to examine the psychological causes of social ruptures from a psychoanalytic perspective. Just as an individual is subjected to psychoanalysis, societies are subjected to an evaluation of the traumatic and decisive events in their memories and the accumulation of past experiences. It tries to find causalities and repetitive practices.

What are the fields of study in Political Psychology?

Political Psychology has a wide range of applications. In addition to Political Science and Psychology, it is in close relationship with fields such as social anthropology, history, sociology, psychiatry, international relations, economics, art and philosophy. In addition to contemporary issues such as conflict resolution, peace processes, civil wars, terrorism, political elections, and leader analysis, he is also interested in broader and deeper issues such as selected victories and traumas in the formation of national identities, the psychological effects of social change, the formation of large group identities, and the origins of ethnic and sectarian divisions.

As examples of research in this field, we can list some topics as follows:

The formation and dynamics of large group identities; mass psychology
Selected victories and traumas; grief and healing
Migration and migration psychology; psychological breaking points of natives and nomads
Ethnic identities; the distinction between self and other
Psychological foundations of terrorism
Psychological motivations of leaders and the psychology of followers
Psychodynamics of political, economic and technological developments
Civil wars, genocide, massacres
The ways in which mass media affect social psychology
Public diplomacy and psychological tools; propaganda

PPM (Political Psychology Application and Research Center) Symposia

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1st Symposium on Political Psychology

2st Symposium on Political Psychology

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