Political psychology is one of those areas of psychology that, by not having an object of study as well defined as other branches of it, seems to fade into the ambiguity of the social sciences. However, that does not mean that it is not relevant.
In fact, thanks to its joint work with areas of knowledge such as sociology and anthropology, it is able to better understand what is happening in an increasingly globalized world, with increasingly extensive and, ultimately, social conflicts.
Next we will see what are the functions, characteristics and main problems of political psychology
Political psychology is a difficult concept to define, and the diffuseness of its limits and structural characteristics has meant that for years this name has been used to refer to different things.
However, a definition that is as specific as it is complete is the one made by Luis A. Oblitas and Ángel Rodríguez Krauth (1999): political psychology is the branch of psychology that is responsible for analyze political phenomena from their psychological aspects: the perception of corruption, the political discourse of parties, social movements and pressure groups, identification with reference groups or leaders, etc.
But a simple definition is not enough to understand what the distinctive characteristics of this branch of psychology are. First of all, we must take into account its relationship with historical processes and social psychology.
Some people have a conception of what psychology is that relates it more to biology than to the social sciences. From this point of view, this would be a science that is responsible for studying neural structures that, when inside our body, emit behaviors, in the same way that a gland produces saliva.
While it is true that psychology is not strictly a social science in its entirety, the above view of the profession of psychologists is erroneous. This is because psychology is the study of behavior, and as far as human beings are concerned, human behavior is never born spontaneously inside bodies, but is always modulated by the historical context in which people live. The same person is very different depending on the place and time in which they are born. For example, what is considered misogynistic behavior today could be considered normal just a century ago.
In short, our way of being is not separated from the flow of events that occur around us, and a good part of these are social and political in nature.
On the other hand, the actions we take also contribute to changing the context in which we live. As a consequence, the object of study of political psychology, and social psychology, is constantly changing. This makes Its approach to what happens cannot be the same as that of the exact sciences, which analyze phenomena whose components are more or less invariable, and which must use a probabilistic approach when investigating. In turn, this fact brings political psychology closer to other disciplines that study social phenomena, such as anthropology and sociology.
It must be taken into account that people who dedicate themselves to political psychology are very sensitive to the way in which political phenomena influence our way of thinking. Of course, studying the interaction processes between politically mobilized ethnic groups in today’s Spain is not the same as doing it in Hitler’s Germany. Science is also a human and social activity and therefore is not totally isolated from these influences.
Consequently, one of the objectives of political psychology is also to analyze the way in which political processes, throughout history or in the present, contribute to certain models of human behavior gaining strength to the detriment of others, which they lose support.
In short, political psychology always try to direct efforts towards self-criticism about the presuppositions from which it starts, the epistemological approach it uses when reaching conclusions, and the effects that placing more emphasis on some study topics than others can have at any given time.
Its forms of application: examples
It may seem that political psychology is content with understanding certain social phenomena, reaching abstract and not very brave conclusions, given that it works from concepts that are very difficult to study, as they are always changing and have imprecise limits (where does humor end and humor begin? chauvinism in certain propaganda initiatives, for example?). However, this does not have to be like this.
Political psychology can be used, for example, to make predictions about the future movements that mobilized groups will make, or to measure the degree of racism and xenophobia that appear in certain speeches of parties and groups (the consequences of this have been clear throughout history).
At the same time, it also serves to know what the probabilities are of a regressive movement appearing in a generally progressive country, or vice versa, a progressive one in one anchored in religious fundamentalism and nationalist essentialisms.
In short, political psychology, although it is far from being infallible, serves to reach very important conclusions, since it tells us about phenomena that have the capacity to affect thousands or millions of people.
