A global threat: ‘Political Narcissism’!
The “First International Political Psychology Workshop” was organized by the Uskudar University Political Psychology Application and Research Center. The online workshop addressed topics such as studies conducted in the field of political psychology in Türkiye, academic collaborations, institutional partnerships and international visibility.
Emphasizing that political psychology should address political narcissism, which has become a global threat, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, “In the events we are currently experiencing in the Middle East, there is ethnic narcissism. Sometimes it also takes the form of glorifying national identity. They use both historical traumas and achievements for narcissistic purposes.”
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Kaynak: “An era does not have only an economic or political spirit; it also has a psychological spirit.”
The “First International Political Psychology Workshop,” organized by the Uskudar University Political Psychology Application and Research Center, was held online. The workshop addressed topics such as studies conducted in the field of political psychology in Türkiye, academic collaborations, institutional partnerships and international visibility.
Featuring a wide range of discussions, from the narcissistic traits of leaders and rising social anxiety to interdisciplinary collaborations and publication and education activities, the workshop aimed to make political psychology more effective and widespread in Türkiye.
The opening speeches of the workshop were delivered by Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Founding Rector of Uskudar University and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Kaynak, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Uskudar University and Director of the Political Psychology Application and Research Center.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Brainstorming is important”
Pointing to the founding purpose of the Political Psychology Application and Research Center, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan began his remarks by saying, “Projects needed to emerge from here, various observations needed to be made; in other words, international connections needed to be established. Our infrastructure and our faculty members have matured sufficiently for this. I hope this workshop will later turn into international congresses. To that end, it is important to start with a brainstorming session.”
“Political psychology should also address political narcissism, which has become a global threat”
Stating that the narcissistic traits of leaders should be examined within a scientific framework, Prof. Dr. Tarhan continued as follows:
“Political psychology should also address political narcissism, which has currently become a global threat. Last year, during the communication days, we discussed digital narcissism. Narcissism produced by digitalization was the main theme of the congress. Today we will talk about leadership here. We will talk about the narcissistic traits of leaders. These need to be discussed while remaining within a scientific domain. For example, a parent can also be a narcissistic leader. So can the manager of a company, or the leader of a country. They share certain basic characteristics. Such people expect excessive praise. They constantly want to be admired. They are intolerant of criticism, defensive and aggressive. They also always take credit for every success and blame others for mistakes. They have difficulty empathizing and behave in a power-oriented way, which is the most dangerous part. In the events we are currently experiencing in the Middle East, there is ethnic narcissism. Sometimes it also takes the form of glorifying national identity. They use both historical traumas and achievements for narcissistic purposes. The instrumentalization of this global narcissism is very dangerous, and when this happens, it gives rise to a collective narcissism.”
“We must act with the intention of seeking the truth”
Pointing out the need to seek the truth using a scientific methodology, Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, “We must act with the intention of seeking the truth. The topic of the next congress could be justice. Because the solution to narcissism is related to justice, to establishing a fair balance and drawing fair boundaries. There could be an approach along the lines of the psychology of justice. We will tailor a garment, and we cannot know whom it will fit or not. But we have to measure, assess and explain things there.”
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Kaynak: “We saw that there are people working in this field from all over Türkiye”
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Kaynak, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Uskudar University, began her remarks by saying, “The main purpose of this workshop is not to discuss a particular theme but rather to talk about collaborations: how we can all support one another, how we can develop joint projects, and what we can do. We opened our Political Psychology Center at Uskudar University under the leadership of our Professor Nevzat. He was the one who showed us the way at first. In fact, I had come to Uskudar University at that time solely to establish this center, when I returned from Oxford. We established our center in 2018. We conduct research and studies within our own capacity. In fact, we saw that there are people, faculty members, working in this field from all over Türkiye. Today, our friends, academics and colleagues who study political psychology all around the world will share valuable insights with us.”
“People have normalized anxiety”
Stating that it is necessary to look at the roots of political behavior in order to understand the social mood, Prof. Dr. Kaynak said, “An era does not have only an economic or political spirit; it also has a psychological spirit. In the period we live in, there is a community of people who are more pessimistic, lonelier, more alienated, more anxious, and who have now normalized anxiety. There are mental illness budgets worth trillions of dollars. By 2030, the world faces a global cost of mental disorders of 16 trillion dollars. Currently, this figure is 5 trillion dollars. Looking at it, the rise to 16 trillion dollars within 5 years leads experts to expect that humanity will face a very serious psychological problem. In other words, in the coming period we will be talking about billions of people who cannot live without antidepressants. It is important to understand the social mood and to know that it also lies at the root of our current political behavior.”
“Great contributions were made to our doctoral students”
Speaking about the work of the Political Psychology Center, Prof. Dr. Kaynak said, “As the Political Psychology Center, our doctoral students generally came from the psychology department, since we offer a doctorate in psychology, so the center was formed with their participation. At first, when a political psychology course was opened in the psychology department, they objected quite a bit, asking what it had to do with them. But later they were so pleased that some of them transformed their theses, wrote articles, and said that it was very useful even when seeing their own patients and that they had developed a new perspective. So it contributed greatly to both psychology education and doctoral education. As the Uskudar University Political Psychology Center, we have published four books. We published two during the COVID period. Then we published one under the title ‘Psychopolitical Readings on Space.’ We combined sociology with political psychology. We continue our editorial work. In the book ‘From Trauma to Victory,’ which we most recently wrote together with our Professor Hadiye, we once again mentioned the name of our Political Psychology Center. We will continue with such publications.”
Prof. Dr. Havva Kök Arslan: “Our goal is to raise good people”
Prof. Dr. Havva Kök Arslan, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations (English) at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uskudar University, spoke at the workshop. Prof. Dr. Arslan said, “Peace studies is an overarching umbrella for political psychology. There, it is called not political psychology but peace psychology. There is a normative stance there, because we cannot be neutral there. It is said that being a good person, being a peaceful person, is essential. Therefore, our goal is to raise good people, to build a good society, and from there to achieve global peace. When we focus too much on political psychology, we begin to question our own society: Why are our leaders like this, or why is the leader of America like this? Yet we need to look at the system that produces them. Political psychology seems to me to be one of these tools. That is why I am trying to do very different things at the strategic research center.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hadiye Yılmaz Odabaşı: “Let us support one another in every way”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hadiye Yılmaz Odabaşı, Head of the Department of History at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uskudar University, said, “The field of political psychology is actually extremely interesting. Unfortunately, it is a field that has not truly developed in our country. Yet, as all my colleagues have stated, while the fact that many sciences cannot truly reach conclusions independently of psychology is so prevalent, and while most of us are so aware of this, unfortunately no real step has yet been taken in our country regarding political psychology, which is an interdisciplinary field. I believe we will continue along this path and accomplish quite a lot. That is why we held this meeting. These discussions of ours will continue. Our goal is to hold political psychology symposia. Apart from that, we would like to produce our publications together. It is not easy to get political psychology papers published in journals. So let us support one another in every way. This is the main purpose of our center. With this meeting, I see that there is also a desire and willingness in this regard. Hopefully, together we will take our field to much more advanced levels.”
Asst. Prof. Dr. Hazal Ayas: “As the psychology department, we will provide all kinds of support”
Asst. Prof. Dr. Hazal Ayas, Head of the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uskudar University, said, “I actually work in the fields of clinical psychology and sports psychology. As Professor Deniz mentioned, I contributed a chapter on the psychopolitics of stadiums to the book Psychopolitical Readings on Space, produced by the Political Psychology group. There, I actually ventured into both sports sociology and political psychology to some extent. Therefore, my familiarity with the field is much more limited than yours. In psychology, ranging from personality theories to theories on whether a child's birth order makes them supportive of or opposed to revolutions, and in sports psychology, we study leadership, motivation and competition. None of these are very independent of the topics you have been discussing. Therefore, I am here to say that, as the Department of Psychology, we will provide all the support we can. As a department, we are open to all kinds of support. We will contribute to the work as much as we can.”
Prof. Dr. Alim Yılmaz: “Understanding the world through philosophy is not an easy matter”
Prof. Dr. Alim Yılmaz, Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Istanbul Medeniyet University, said, “Understanding the world, human beings and society through philosophy is not an easy matter. In addition, we seriously need psychology and a sociological perspective. During my doctoral studies, postmodernist tendencies were in vogue. The basic assumption of postmodernism there is essentially an approach that foregrounds the agent, that is, an approach that foregrounds the individual in opposition to modernity. I have always tried to understand this. In doing so, my path naturally led to social psychology. We try to understand the individual, the leader and personality traits. In short, we call this structure. We can also call it society, culture, tradition, history and language. Therefore, it is necessary to try to understand this as a whole.”
Prof. Dr. Özlem Gümüş: “It is a great feeling to be training leaders here”
Prof. Dr. Özlem Gümüş, a faculty member at Louisiana State University, said, “I teach courses in the leadership studies doctoral program. I try to train leaders. In other words, I try to make an impact through my students who hold leadership positions in every field in America. The age range is truly very wide; I have students from their 20s to their 60s and 70s. I try to teach them leadership. It is not only political leaders. That is why I do not feel very far removed from political leadership either. Perhaps I live in one of the societies most in need of improvement. That is why I am truly proud of what I do; it is a great feeling to be training leaders here. In political leadership, we generally work through case studies. Since it is not really possible to conduct studies with hundreds of people who fit that profile, I try to work more through individuals and case studies.”