Political Psychology

At a general level, political psychology is the application of psychological research findings to the study of politics. The foci lie on the psychological conditions and antecedents as well as on the psychological consequences of political processes. Thereby, political psychology fosters an understanding of political elites’ as well as of citizens’ behavior. Typically, political psychology focuses on the application of psychology to international relations, to mass political behavior, or to intergroup relations. In this entry, the focus is on the psychological factors that influence the dynamic relationship between governmental surveillance—as a political measurement—on the one side and privacy and security on the other. The aim is to demonstrate which psychological processes play a role in the interplay of security, privacy, and surveillance—more specifically which factors ...