Political Psychology and Covid-19 Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is political psychology?
It is the application of psychological knowledge to understand political behaviour and attitudes (Huddy et al., 2013).
Name three political topics studied through the lens of political psychology
- Voter behaviour
- Political attitudes
- influence of emotion on decision-making.
Which psychological approaches can be applied to politics?
Social, cognitive, evolutionary, developmental, biopsychology, personality, psychopathology, neuroscience, and intergroup relations.
What is the Stereotype Content Model (Fiske et al., 2007)?
A theory suggesting people evaluate others based on warmth and competence
Name some advantages of the SCM
- Useful in predicting emotional reactions
- Broad applicability, can be used across cultures.
- Helps explain how voters evaluate political candidates.
Why might the SCM be seen as limited inn cross-cultural research?
- Because cultural values differ
- the way warmth and competence are perceived may not translate equally across societies.
How can the SCM unintentionally reinforce stereotypes?
- By categorizing social groups based on perceived traits
- It may make those stereotypes seem more fixed or legitimate.
What is a limitation of the SCM in addressing power dynamics?
It doesn’t fully explore how power, status, or ideological factors shape group perceptions beyond trait ratings.
How does personalisation affect politics in democracies?
- It shifts focus from parties to individual candidates
- Makes personality traits crucial to voter decisions.
What is the impact of positive candidate personality traits on elections?
Candidates perceived as warm and competent are more likely to be supported and trusted by voters.
What did Matz et al. (2017) find about psychologically tailored ads?
Tailored messages influenced people’s online behaviour (clicks/purchases) significantly more than non-tailored ones.
What are “dark ads”?
Ads that are only visible to targeted users and do not appear on public timelines.
Why is psychological targeting in political ads considered problematic?
It raises concerns about voter autonomy, privacy, and manipulation (Matz et al., 2020).
: How did the COVID-19 pandemic relate to political psychology?
- It required coordinated political leadership and public compliance with health behaviours, influenced by social identity and trust.
What role does social identity play during crises?
People define themselves through group membership, which can strengthen cooperation and compliance (Abrams & Hogg, 1988).
What kind of leadership do people prefer in a crisis?
Strong, action-oriented, and prototypical leaders (Hasel, 2013; Kay et al., 2008).
What makes public health messaging more effective?
It should be consistent, normative, and come from trusted ingroup members (Drury et al., 2020; Bonell et al., 2020).
What factor was linked to higher compliance with COVID health behaviours globally?
Strong national identity (Van Bavel et al., 2022).
What political psychology lesson did the UK overlook during COVID?
- Importance of identity-based messaging and consistent leadership
- This contributed to poorer outcomes compared to other nations.
(PARTY GATE, BORRIS, MATT HANCOCK)
