ABSTRACT
Even a cursory survey of the relevant literature reveals that in recent years—particularly in the decade and a half since the end of World War II—students of international politics have taken a growing interest in psycho-attitudinal approaches to the study of the international system. It has been proposed, in fact, that psychology belongs at the “core” of the discipline (Wright, 1955, p. 506). Two related problems within this area have become particular foci of attention.
A number of studies have shown that the relationship between “belief system,” perceptions, and decision-making is a vital one (Rokeach, 1960; Smith et al., 1956; Snyder et al, 1954). 2 A decision-maker acts upon his “image” of the situation rather than upon “objective” reality, and it has been demonstrated that the belief system—its structure as well as its content—plays an integral role in the cognitive process (Boulding, 1956; Festinger, 1957; Ray, 1961).
Within the broader scope of the belief-system-perception-decision-making relationship there has been a heightened concern for the problem of stereotyped national images as a significant factor in the dynamics of the international system (Bauer, 1961; Boulding, 1959; Osgood, 1959b; Wheeler, 1960; Wright, 1957). Kenneth Boulding, for example, has written that, “The national image, however, is the last great stronghold of unsophistication… Nations are divided into ‘good’ and ‘bad’—the enemy is all bad, one's own nation is of spotless virtue” (Boulding, 1959, p. 130).
