Social psychology and politics

Why are social psychologists interested in politics, and how can they help us understand things like social movements, protest and activism? This free course, Social psychology and politics, moves away from a state-centric study of politics and, using insights from social psychology, explores the role of identity, personality and culture for political action. The course introduces a critical perspective considering how psychologists themselves can be activists and interrogating the norms of ‘good citizenship’ in Western societies.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Social psychology and the study of politics
• 1 Social psychology and the study of politics
• 1.1 Consolidation quiz
• 2 Politics and personality
• 2 Politics and personality
• 2.1 Consolidation quiz
• 2.2 Activism orientation
• 2.3 Are you an activist?
• 2.4 Assessing your activism orientation
• 2.5 Evaluating the activism orientation scale
• 3 Social identities and collective action
• 3 Social identities and collective action
• 3.1 Consolidation activity
• 3.2 Social identities and the dynamics of crowds
• 3.3 Social identities as political motivations
• 3.4 Consolidation quiz
• 4 A social constructionist approach
• 4 A social constructionist approach
• 4.1 Constructing contemporary citizenship
• 4.2 Citizenship as a practice
• 5 The politics of psychology
• 5 The politics of psychology
• 5.1 Liberation psychology: An interview with Mark Burton
• 5.2 Consolidation quiz
• 5.3 Scholar activism: An interview with Carolyn Kagan
• 5.4 Consolidation quiz
• Conclusion
• Take the next step
• References
• Acknowledgements