ABSTRACT
Located at the intersection of political science and psychology, political psychology approaches the analysis of politics from a psychological perspective. Political psychologists study factors that affect political cognition and behavior in order to disentangle the complexity of the relationships governing politics. They analyze political behavior, beliefs, motivations, and perceptions, including how information is processed and how political attitudes and preferences are learned and changed. Political psychologists study diverse processes: elite decision making, policy dynamics, voting, and the role of media. They also study conflict behavior, including war, ethnic violence and genocide, conflict resolution, racism, political extremism, and nationalism.
