Introduction to Political Psychology
What you'll learn
- You will learn how unconscious processes guide our behaviour
- You will be able to describe the various universal moral intuitions that help us make moral decisions
- You will understand why most people do not change their minds when given facts
- You will be able to explain how personality traits impact our political ideologies
Requirements
- There are no prerequisites for this course - just an interest in human psychology!
Description
(NEW LECTURES COMING SOON ON PERSONALITY AND POLITICS - ENROL NOW AT THE CURRENT PRICE TO GET THESE NEW LECTURES FOR FREE AS SOON AS THEY ARE PUBLISHED!)
Are you tired of seeing one political side shouting over another? Do you struggle to understand why people see some things as morally fine, but you think they're abhorrent? If so, you need to delve into The Social Psychology of the Moral and Political Mind.
In this course, you will:
- Learn about how people make moral decisions based on automatic gut reactions, rather than reason and logic
- Understand the foundations of human morality, personality, and motivated decision-making
- Hear about the psychological evidence behind 'liberals' and 'conservatives' having different psychological make-ups
- Apply the evidence to current political debates
This course gives you what you need to know to understand the social psychology of the culture wars - fast. You will be learning all of this from an expert in this field. I am a university-based psychology lecturer, a practising research psychologist, and have published academic papers in the area of social psychology.
I hope you enjoy the course, and will be happy to answer an questions you have about the content.
Welcome aboard!
Who this course is for:
- This course is for anybody interested in learning how and why people become divided by politics
- The course will be interesting to anybody who wants to understand how unconscious processes guide their political behaviour
- This course is for anybody who wants to understand another aspect of human behaviour
Instructor
![Craig Harper, PhD](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.3 Instructor Rating
- 961 Reviews
- 4,497 Students
- 2 Courses
I am a social psychologist working, teaching, and researching in the UK. I hold an undergraduate degree in psychology (with a specialism in clinical psychology), a masters degree in forensic psychology, and a PhD in social psychology. I have published multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals, and have received invitations to deliver research talks at several conferences in the UK and North America.
My research is typically focused on the psychological mechanisms that lead people to make the decisions that they do about controversial social and political issues. Much of my work has been based around forensic topics - specifically public responses to sexual offending and the individuals who commit these crimes.
I am passionate about teaching and strive to present evidence in a balanced way in order to promote critical evaluation and reflection in my students. I am a member of the Heterodox Academy - a transatlantic organisation that strives to promote viewpoint diversity in higher education.