This course introduces students to the classical debates and current trends in political psychology, presenting them with a mix of quantitative and qualitative research findings from the area of political psychology. It aims for the students to develop and demonstrate a critical understanding of the debates that informed the area, the individual (e.g., personality, attitudes, cognitions, and emotions) and the situational factors (e.g., social influence processes and inter-group dynamics) that lead to political behaviors, and a critical evaluation of the applicability of research and theory to the current socio-political issues.

By the end of this course, students will:
1) develop an understanding of the scope of political psychology as well as the different topics of study that are covered under the label
2) apply the findings from the (mostly US) literature on political psychology to compare and explain the daily political behavior of masses and political elites in Turkey
3) develop research proposals in order to apply psychology to politics
4) evaluate research to further develop psyhological theories and judge their applicability