political psychology
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1
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF OPEN DISTANCE & e-LEARNING
IN COLLABORATION WITH
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT
APS 406 POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Copyright © Kenyatta University, 2016
All Rights Reserved
Published By:
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY PRESS
WRITTEN BY:
ESTHER GACHARA
EDITED BY:
DR. ROBERT KIPNUSU
2
OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course the learner should be able to:
a)
Explain how the fields of political science and psychology influence each
other.
b)
Understand and appreciate how individuals make sense of others and
themselves in the context of political issues, choices and conflict. .
c)
Learn to identify the dynamics of political leaders, individual and group
behaviour that influence and affect political behaviour.
d)
Understand and appreciate the global shift in dynamics from conflict between
states to conflict within states and consequent resolution efforts. e)
Understand and identify the controversies in political psychology regarding
political attitudes of ordinary Kenyan citizens.
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LECTURE TITLE PAGE
LECTURE 1 UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY OF POLITICS……………
...............................................
6
DEFINITION AND SCOPE…………………………………………………………………………………..7
RATIONALE FOR STUDYING PSYCHOLOGY OF POLITICS……………………………………….13
LECTURE 2 PSYCHOLOGY PROCESSES UNDERLYING……………
........................................................
17
INFORMATION PROCESSING………………………………………………………………….18
CATEGORIZATION………………………………………………………………………………21
SOCIAL IDENTITY……………………………………………………………………………….23
AFFECT AND EMOTION……………………………………………………………………… 24
LECTURE 3 PERSONALITY AND POLITICS…………………………………
..............................................
33
THEORIES AND APPROACHES……………………………………………………………….35
FRAMEWORKS FORUNDERSTANDING
PERSONALITY………………………………………………………44
LECTURE 4 POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF GROUPS 1…………………………………………………49
TYPES OF GROUPS…………………………………………………………………………….. 50
GROUP STRUCTURE…………………………………………………………………………...51
GROUP COMPOSITION………………………………………………………………………...53
GROUP DEVELOPMENT………………………………………
.................................................
55
INFLUENCE IN GROUP…………………………………………………………………………56
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GROUP PERFORMANCE………………………………………………………………………..59
LECTURE 5 POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2…………………………………………………………………62
GROUP DECISION MAKING…………………………………………………………………..63
GROUP THINK…………………………………………………
..................................................
64
CONFLICT TENSION IN GROUPS…………………………………………………………….66
LECTURE 6 POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF VOTING…………………….71
INFORMATION PROCESSING…………………………………72
ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN VOTING…………………………….75
ROLE OF MEDIA IN VOTING………………………………….76
LECTURE 7 POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF NATIONALISM
....................
81
DEFINITION AND PATTERNS OF NATIONALISTIC BEHAVIOUR….82
NATIONALISM IN NON-NATION STATES………………………………85
PSYCHOLOGY CAUSES OF NATIONALISTIC BEHAVIOUR………...86
LECTURE 8 PSYCHOLOGY OF RACISM , ETHNOCENTRISM AND POLITICAL
INTOLERANCE………………………………………………..91
ETHNICITY…………………………………………………….92
RACISM………………………………………………………
....
95
POLITICAL INTOLERANCE………………………………..97
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF RACISM AND
ETHNOCENTRISM……………………………………………98
LECTURE 9 INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND CONFLICT …………106
CAUSES OF ETHNIC CONFLICTS………………………….107
PERPETRATORS OF VIOLENCE…………………………..109
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FROM ETHNIC CONFLICTS TO GENOCIDE……………110
POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF TERRORISM…………...112
LECTURE 10 CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND RECONCILIATION…...126
EXPLAINING CONFLICT RESOLUTION………………………………….127 CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND RECONCILIATION TECHNIQUES…130
ANSWERES TO SELF-TEST QUESTIONS…………………………………139
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………140
UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY OF POLITICS
LECTURE ONE
1.1
INTRODUCTION
This is an introductory lecture. In this lecture I will introduce you to the key terms in this
course. I will then describe the historical background of psychology of politics and finally
discuss the importance of this studying this course.
1.2
LECTURE OBJECTIVES
6
By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
1.
Define the following terms: politics, political psychology, political behavior
2.
Trace the origin of the study of psychology of politics
3.
Explain the importance of studying psychology of politics
1.2 Definitions and scope
Psychology of P
olitics and Politics
I will begin by exploring what is Psychology of politics. Psychology of politics entails an
application of what is known about human Psychology to the study of politics. As you may
be aware, human psychology deals with mental processes and behaviour. Psychology of
politics therefore aims at understanding the relationships between individuals and contexts
that are influenced by mental processes such as beliefs, motivation, perception, cognition,
information processing, learning strategies, socialization and attitude formation. These
concepts are drawn from Psychological theory and research on personality, psychopathology,
social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology and intergroup relations.
Basically political psychology represents the merging of two disciplines, psychology and
political science. Political science deals with the political relationship of human beings in
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various contexts such as in individual biography and leadership, mass political behaviour,
mass communication effects, political socialization and civic education, international conflict,
foreign policy, decision making, conflict and conflict resolution, intergroup and other
groupings, political movements and political mobilization. Political psychologists addresses
the same phenomena using the psychological concepts mentioned above.
There is no one political Psychology rather there are a number of political phenomena that have been investigated from a psychological approach and using a number of different Psychological theories. Many of Psychology of politics practitioners are drawn from various
disciplines including: Historians, Sociologists, Anthropologists, Psychiatrists, Communications researchers, educators and lawyers.
Let us now focus on understanding what politics is. Many political scientists define politics
as the pursuit and competition for political power
.
It is the process by which political power
is acquired and exercised.
What then is political power
? Political power is the ability to shape
and control the political behaviour of others .Those with the political power lead and guide
the behaviour in the direction they desired. They utilize it to influence, shape, and control the
political behaviour of others such as influencing decision making of a political party and
influencing the outcome of an election. There are two forms of political power that is political
authority and political influence.
1.3 Political Authority and Political Influence
I will begin with Political authority. Political authority is governmental power, the legally
established power of the government to make rules , issue commands and to compel
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obedience by use of physical force and coercion when deemed necessary. The political
authority exercised by a government may be legitimate or illegitimate.
Legitimate political authority exist where the political authority exercised by a government is
willingly and widely accepted by the public such that it does not have to rely entirely on
force to maintain order and obtain compliance with its decisions. Political legitimacy exists in a political society, where most citizens (1) perceive the
government as having the moral and legal right to make and enforce decisions binding to the
whole society (2) see the decisions themselves as being legitimate, and (3) consider it their
duty to voluntarily comply with these decisions.
Illegitimate authority exist where the persons occupying the government offices and
institutions are deemed to have obtained their positions through unlawful means and therefore
do not have the moral and legal right to hold these formal governmental positions and to
exercise the powers legally assigned to the positions. This may result to some segments of the
society: to employ force, and violence or rebellion to overthrow the political regime, 2) to
prevent effective enforcement of the government's decisions and 3) to secede from the
existing political community and form a separate and independent community and
governmental system Political influence on the other hand is the ability of private individuals and groups to impact
on the government's making and implementation of official policy decisions. Private
individuals and groups influence, condition, shape, and thereby control the authoritative
decisions and actions of those who possess the formal-legal authority. We can conclude that
political authority is exercised by those in power while political influence is exercised by the
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citizens. Their actions in exercising their power is what constitute political behaviour. Let’s
now focus on the political behaviours.
1.4 Political Behaviours Political behaviour consists of human activities relating to the government and its processes
of authoritative decision making and action. Examples of political behaviour, or political
activity, include actions such as (1) voting in elections, (2) contributing money to political
parties or to the election campaigns of candidates running for government office, (3)
attending and actively participating in party caucuses, or meetings (4) serving on party and
campaign committees, (5) serving as campaign workers for particular candidates, (6) working
for political action committees, (7) active membership in political interest groups, (8)
lobbying, (9) engaging in protest demonstrations, (10) writing to or otherwise contacting
members of the legislature or other government officeholders, (11) disseminating political
propaganda, (12) writing letters to newspaper and magazine editors--letters discussing
politics and issues of public policy, (13) writing and publishing books, periodicals, articles,
and other literature dealing with public issues, (14) running for political office, and (15)
governmental activity--the government's making and enforcement of authoritative decisions.
While the term political behaviour refers to many different types of human activity, all these
are concerned ultimately with public policy.
1.5 Historical Background
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The field of political psychology traces its roots to the works of American political scientist
and communications theorist Harold D. Lasswell (1902-1978). His classic writings, such as
Psychopathology and Politics
(1930),
World politics and personality
(1935), Politics ;Who
Gets What, When, and How
(1936), Power and Personality
(1948), and Power and Society
(1950), centred on the impact of individual and social psychological processes such as
perception, motivation, conflict, cognition, learning, socialization, attitude formation, and
group dynamics as causal factors influencing politics. His works pioneered the early studies
in politics that contributed to the field’s initial focus on how the individual psyche shapes
political behaviour and values. Erich Fromm (1900-1980), Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979), and Theodor Adorno (1903-1969),
among other members of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt (the
so-called Frankfurt school) developed the concept of authoritarian personality, Their ideas
inspired Adorno and his associates at the University of California at Berkeley to conduct a
seminal empirical study on the Authoritarian Personality in 1950. The study was based on the
(fascism)-scale measurement, which linked right-wing authoritarianism (implicit
antidemocratic tendencies and fascist potential) to a family pattern of rigidity, discipline,
strict rules, and fearful subservience to the demands of parents. Even though it has been widely criticized, for its heavy reliance on the psychoanalytical
perspectives of Freudian theory, it reveals how certain politically relevant aspects of the
psyche lead to fascist or authoritarian belief systems. In the 1950s and 1960s, Behaviourist-oriented researchers directed their focus to new issues
such as analysing the impact of personality characteristics upon political participation and
party preference. Lasswell, came up with eight psychological reasons for participation in
politics which are : power, wealth, well-being, skill, enlightenment, affection, rectitude, and
11
respect. Robert E. Lane in his Political Life :Why and How People get Involved in Politics
.
(1965) argued that political participation serves a number of conscious and unconscious
needs and motives, including power, economic and material gain, friendship and affection,
self-esteem, relief from psychic tensions, and a need to understand the world. Behavioural revolution led to improvement on early studies such as The Peoples Choice
(1944), the classic study of the 1940 U.S. presidential election conducted by the famous
Austrian-born sociologist Paul F. Lazarsfeld (1901-1976), The American Voter (1960). The
best-known research study of American voting behaviour by Angus Campbell, Philip
Converse, William Miller, and Donald Stokes examined electoral behaviour in relation to
various demographic and population variables such as age, gender, level of education, type of
employment, social class, ethnicity, race, religion, and ideology. The increased sophistication
of public opinion polling led to numerous in-depth analyses of belief systems at both the
mass and elite level, such as Philip Converse’s influential study, “The Nature of Belief
Systems in Mass Publics found that mass public opinion tends to be inconsistent, indecisive,
and
poorly
informed.
In later decades attention was directed to the reverse effect of politics on personality systems
for instance Gabriel Almond and Sydney Verba’s The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and
Democracy in Five Nations
(1963), looked at how political systems inform individual
behaviour and values. The perceptions, beliefs, motives, opinions, values, interests, styles,
defences, and experiences of individuals be they citizens, leaders, group members,
bureaucrats, terrorists, or revolutionaries are seen as influencing what they do politically; and,
in turn, the political culture, political system, mechanisms of political socialization, political
12
movements and parties, and the international system are perceived as having an impact on
what people are like. (Hermann 1986, p. 2).
Political psychology finally took shape as an academic discipline in its own right when the
International Society of Political Psychology was founded in 1978 and began holding annual
scientific meetings and publishing a quarterly journal, Political Psychology.
Nowadays
political psychology is a key component of the political behaviour which is a subfield of
political science. Psychological concepts have been incorporated into political studies and
are widely used in research on voting behaviour, political socialization, political leadership,
the dynamics of public opinion, political attitudes, political conflict and cooperation,
international negotiation, decision-making, and, more recently, political information
processing.
The two empirical research methods most often employed to study psychological variables
are the sample survey and the in-depth interview. For example, political psychologists
frequently use attitude surveys to probe the connections among personality structures,
demographic and population variables, and dispositions toward political participation and
party preference. Other more innovative but less frequently utilized research tools include
simulation, projective techniques, content analysis, focus groups, and the controlled
experiment. 1.6 Rational for studying psychology of politics
. Much of political behaviour seems to defy explanation and seems inconceivable by an
ordinary person. For instance you may wonder why people start wars that in the end, thought
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of as pointless and futile ,such as WWI and civil wars that erupt among people who have
lived together harmoniously for years but then commit heinous acts of barbaric violence
against one another. Why do people commit acts of terrorism that kill numerous innocent
civilians, why do leaders engage in immoral acts knowing well the implication of such
scandals, why do people vote in a particular pattern and why do states relate in certain ways
with other states.
Psychology of politics helps us understand why people behave the way they do in politics and
make certain decision.. Unless one understands the thoughts and feelings of the people who
make the decisions to commit certain acts, one cannot fully understand why certain acts
occurr. Exploration of thought processes, emotions and motivations of people involved in
political activity provides a unique and necessary basis for understanding various activities.
Political psychology also enables us to explain many aspects of political behaviour whether
pathological or normal decision making practices that are sometimes optimal but at other
times failures. These and many questions about politics that are of great concern to all of us.
Studying Psychology of politics help in expanding our knowledge on issues and problems of
common interest such as foreign and domestic policy decision making by elites, conflicts
ranging from ethnic violence to wars, genocide and terrorism, ethnicity and racism and more
peaceful behaviours such as voting behaviour.
One goal of political psychology is to establish general laws of behaviour that can help
explain and predict events that occur in a number of different situations. The approach that
political psychologist use to understand and predict behaviour is the scientific method. This
approach relies on four cyclical steps that a researcher repeatedly executes as he or she tries
to understand and predict behaviour.
14
1)
Making observations
. Entails making systematic and unsystematic observations. A
researcher begins to form lunches about the likely factors or variables that affect the
behaviour under observation. 2) Formulating tentative explanations or hypothesis
. A researcher makes predictions
about the nature of the relationship between variables.
3
) Further observations and experiments
.observation are made to test validity of the
hypothesis.
4
) Refining and retesting explanations
. Researchers reformulate their hypothesis on the
basis of the observations made in the third step. This might involve exploring the limits of
the phenomenon, exploring causes of relationships or expanding on the relationships
discovered.
1.7 Summary
.
In this introductory lecture I have explored the key terms relevant in understanding this
course: politics, political behaviour and psychology of politics. The roots of the study of
Psychology of politics has been traced as the importance of studying this course.
1.8 NOTE Psychology of politics is an interdisciplinary field which borrows from a wide range of
disciplines which include history, sociology, psychology, anthropology and international
relations.
15
1.9 ACTIVITIES
Take a few minutes to reflect on what you have learnt in this lecture. Take your note book and
write a reflection on how studying this course will be useful to you as a psychologist.
1.10 FURTHER READING
http://www.eolss.net/EolSS-sample
allchapter.aspx
1.11 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Define the following terms as used in this lecture
a)
Politics
b)
Political influence
c)
Political authority
2.
Differentiate between political science and psychology of politics
3.
Identify any five manifestations political behaviors
4.
Explain the importance of studying psychology of politics
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES UNDERLYING POLITICAL PHENOMENON
LECTURE TWO
2.1 INTRODUCTION
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In this lecture you will learn how various psychological processes influence political
behaviours. These are cognitions, emotions, social identity, and attitudes 2.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lecture you should be able:
1.
Explain how the following psychological processes influence political behaviours
a)
Emotions
b)
Heuristics /mental shortcuts
c)
Attitudes
d)
Categorization
e)
Social identity
2.
Describe various political images with the resulting emotions and associated
behaviours. 2.3 INFORMATION PROCESSING
17
Human mind has developed techniques for interpreting information and deciding what
information is important and relevant and what information can be ignored. This then is used
determine ones behaviour toward others. Attribution theory is one of the earliest theories that
was used to understand how people process information to judge and evaluate others. The
proponents of attribution theory were Heider (1958), Jones and Davis(1965),Kelley (1967).
Attribution theorists argue that people process information as though they are “naïve
scientists”, that is they search for cause in the behaviour of the others, just as scientists search
for the cause of a disease (Cottam,2010). However, people do not always accurately employ
the scientific method, they tend to make errors in determining the cause of other’s behaviour.
This is because Individuals use heuristics, which are mental shortcuts in processing
information about others. First is the availability heuristic .This help people predict the
likelihood of something based on a case with which they can think of instances of it or
examples of it.
For example predicting who will win in an election based on the past trends.
Second is the imaginability which is an aspect of availability heuristic is the tendency to
retrieve information that is credible without any regard for actual probabilities. Individuals
then construct a series of possible behaviours based on their ability to imagine their
occurrence
Finally, the representativeness heuristic which is a probability judgement. A person may, for
example evaluate the characteristics of another person and estimate the likelihood that the
person belongs to a particular group or occupation. For instance if you see someone with a
stethoscope, you will assume that the person is a medical professional.
Having looked at the errors made in interpreting information on people’s behaviour I will
now focus on ways of interpreting information regarding the causality of behaviour. The
18
fundamental attribution error is the most recognized perception: It involve whether the cause
of behaviour is attributed to internal states (personality) or to external forces (situation).
People are more likely to attribute others behaviour to their general dispositions (personality
traits or attitudes) than to the situation they are in. Other perceptions of causality are the positivity affect which is the tendency to attribute
positive behaviours to dispositional factors and negative behaviours to situational factors with
individuals we like while doing the opposite to the people we do not like. The self-serving
bias is when individuals are more likely to take responsibility for successes than failures and
the egocentric bias is the tendency of individuals to accept more responsibility for joint
outcomes than others. In addition to the heuristics and attribution theories, consistency theories will also contribute
to your understanding of how people process information.
One such theory is balance theory
by Heider (1946, 1958). He suggests that people try to keep the components of the cognitive
system in balance or as a harmonious state. The entities comprising the situation and the
feelings about them fit together without stress. People want to see their environment, the
people in it and their feelings about it as a coherent consistent picture. For example a
supporter of a certain political party, is supposed to advocate for the ideologies of his party,
supporting its activities and voting for its members. Should he be attracted by a candidate of
another party, that behaviour would not balance. To achieve a balance he would have to vote
for his party’s candidate, change his party or consider his vote an anomaly.
Dissonance theory
by
Festinger, (1957) on the other hand refers to an aversive state that
results when our behaviour is inconsistent with our attitudes and feelings. Dissonance creates
psychological tension which people feel motivated to avoid through selective attention to
information. Vertzberger notes that drive for consistency occurs on three levels: within
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attitudes ,between affect and cognitions; across attitudes; and throughout the cognitive in its
totality (attitudes, beliefs and values) The drive for consistency affects information processing in a number of ways: First it
produces selective perception which includes selective exposure (seeking inconsistent
information not already present), selective attention (looking at consistent information once it
is there), and selective interpretation (translating ambiguous information to be consistent).
Inconsistent information can be ignored, or it can be distorted so that it appears consistent
with attitudes or cognitive categories. Inconsistent behaviours can be classified so that people
refuse to recognize their own actions as serious. The process of balancing and avoiding
inconsistency can lead to bolstering which involves selective exposure to information that
would be critical of it. You may be wondering what is the implication of this drive for consistency to a political
phenomenon. The consequences of accepting only information that conforms to expectations
are that, people could miss important information and this can lead to escalation of conflicts
between countries or political groups. Distorting information in search for consistency can
produce a failure to recognize the need for value trade-offs in politics. The avoidance of value
of trade- offs occur when people mistakenly believe that a policy that contributes to one value
also contributes to several other values.
. PUT A VIDEO LINK SHOWING AN EXPERIENCE OF COGNITIVE
DISSONANCE
`
2.4 CATEGORIZATION
20
Categorization is the process of classifying people into groups based on similar
characteristics for instance nationality, age, occupation, diagnosis, or some other traits.
People form and use cognitive categories that aid them in their need to process information
efficiently. This helps people understand their social world. Categories, the attributes or
characteristics associated with them, and the beliefs about them are formed through
experience. Rosch (1978) argues that there are two principals involved in category formation.
First, categories must provide the perceiver with a large amount of information with as little
mental effort possible. This is to enable the individual to discern and understand the world
around them and allow them to reduce small and irrelevant differences among people and
objects. Second, people need categories that are suited to their own social and physical
realities.
People tend to organize the social world in terms of social categories such as racial groups
(Caucasians, Blacks, Orientals), ethnic groups (Latinos, Italian-American),nationality groups
(American, German, Chinese) and religion groups( Christian, Muslim, Jewish).
Once a person or situation is classified into a category, people apply organized universal
knowledge in the form of a category or schema, to process information about the person or
situation and to make decision about it or them. A good example of social cognitive category
concept is stereotypes. Stereotypes are beliefs about the attributes of people in particular
groups or social categories. Stereotypes may relate to personality trait descriptions (e.g.
Germans are conscientious and hard- working) and can also include personal attributes (e.g.
Germans are fair, tall and rigid). Stereotyping results in discrimination. Those that hold the
stereotype and behave toward a group in a discriminatory fashion are said to be prejudiced.
21
Let us now focus on the categorization in the political world. Some scholars argue that we
organize the international environment in terms of types of states, such as an enemy or an ally
.These cognitive categories are so-called images and they function very much like
stereotypes. The image theory tend to link policy maker’s images of other countries and their
subsequent behaviour. The images contain information about a country’s capabilities, culture,
intentions, and kinds of decision-making groups and perceptions of threat or opportunity.
Capabilities include economic characteristics, military strength, domestic political stability
and effective policy making and implementation. Cultural attributes consist of judgement of
cultural sophistication. When assessing a country, decision making people judge whether its
capability and culture are equal, inferior or superior to their own country. Another appraisal is
whether the country or group has threatening or good intentions or presents an opportunity to
achieve an important goal. Policy makers use image in foreign affairs matters as well as in
organizing and guiding responses to people’s action in a political domain.
The model also proposes that certain characteristics are relevant to each image. For example
in a colonial image, the country and its people are considered to be inferior in terms of culture
and capability , a country with an ally image is perceived as equal in terms of its capability
and culture but also as very similar to your own country in value . People in a country with a
barbarian image are regarded as superior in capability and inferior in culture. They are also
aggressive in intentions, which make them very frightening. A country with an imperialistic
image is perceived to be superior in culture and capability but its intentions can be either
harmful or benevolent. Imperialists are dominating people and resisting them would be very
difficult. A country with a rogue image is deemed to be inferior in capability and culture but
also very harmful in its intentions. A country with a degenerate image may be powerful and
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culturally advanced but also weak-willed, undisciplined and lacking the will to follow
through on expressed goals and plans of action.
2.5 Social identity
So far we you have learn that people tend to classify individuals as well as states. Let us now
focus on groups categorization. The way we classify others into groups is the same we
classify ourselves. Groups we belong to are called in-groups and those we do not belong to
are out-groups. In groups, members strive to achieve and maintain a sense of positive social
identity. They will base the social identity on favourable comparison made between in-group
and relevant out-group members. These comparisons allow individuals to define the members
of their group as being better than other groups hence contributing to individuals self- esteem.
Comparison is also likely to result to discrimination against the out-group (them) Tajfel and
Tunner (1979). If the comparison is not satisfactory, group members will attempt to leave their group or join
a more positively distinct group. However people can accept a groups’ inferior situation if
they believe that their position is just and legitimate as was evident during colonialism where
people in territories that were colonised by powers such as Britain, France, German and
others often accepted that domination. They perceived the colonial powers through the
imperialist image and thus saw them as superior in culture and capability. Resisting such
domination would have brought severe punishment and they often accepted domination as
just and legitimate. But overtime independence movements grew and political activists in the
colonies argued that their submission to the colonial power was unfair, unjust and
illegitimate. The result was willingness to risk everything ,even their lives for independence.
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2.6 ROLE OF AFFECT AND EMOTION IN INFORMATION PROCESSING
Fiske and Taylor (1991) define affect as a generic term for a whole range of preferences,
evaluations, moods and emotions. Affect can be positive or negative, that is evaluation or
preferences that are either pleasant or unpleasant. Ottati and Wyer (1995) define emotions as
affective states that are more precisely labelled, such as anger, hatred, fear, love and respect.
Marcus, Neuman and MacKuen (2000) emphasize the role of emotion in information
processing. They argue that there is a dual role played by emotions. In one, emotions form a
dispositional system that affects our responses to normal familiar situations. In the second,
emotion performs a surveillance role, alerting us to novel and possibly threatening situation. Let us now focus on the relationship between affect and cognitive. Some people argue that
affects precedes cognition, while others think that people feel first and this then evokes
cognition. We may not conclude the debate here but what is clear is that cognition and affect
are related.
Stephan and Stephan (1993) presents a network of model of affect and cognition
in which they maintain that cognition and affect are a set of interconnected parallel systems.
People have a cognitive system ( a system of thoughts, ideas, knowledge) and an affective
system (a system of feelings and various emotions). They are separate systems in the mind
linked by various cognitive and affective nodes. It is also apparent that affect and emotions
influence information processing, decision making and some predisposition for behaviour.
Positive affect and emotions promote improvement in problem solving, negotiating, and
decision making. Negative emotions for instance anger is associated with moving against, or
lashing out at the perceived source of anger. Contempt is associated with depersonalization
and dehumanization of others resulting in killing of others.
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2.6.1
Politically relevant emotions Having looked into what are affects and emotions, let us now focus on the emotions that are
politically relevant. One of the most important emotions is anger. Anger is a negative emotion
where blame for undesirable behaviour and resulting undesirable events is directed at another
person or group. It occurs when goals are thwarted and attention is focused on the source of
obstacle to the goal. Anger produces a desire to regain control, remove the obstruction and if
necessary attack the source of injury. Whether a person acts on their anger depends on the
situation, norms and values and the characteristics of the offending party. Other emotions
closely related to anger are frustration, resentment, contempt and disgust.
Guilt, shame, sympathy, pity, envy and jealousy also affect political behaviour .Guilt occurs
when people do something they consider morally unacceptable and people want to make
amends to those they have hurt. Shame occurs when a person does something that violates
how they see themselves. This leads to avoidance behaviour of others who have observed the
behaviour. Humiliation produces a desire for revenge. Fear and anxiety occur when danger is perceived. They differ in that, fear is associated with
a clear and certain threat while anxiety is associated with uncertainty about the threat. When
people experience fear they want to escape or avoid the threat. When they experience
anxiety , however they do not really know what to do or how to respond and they tend to
worry about what to do and how to do it.
Positive emotions that important in politics are include pride in the achievements of one’s
group or country, or happiness when an opportunity to achieve an important goal occurs. We
also experience joy and happiness when the country does well in things like economic
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development and growth or in international sports competitions. Positive emotions tend to
make people flexible and more creative in problem solving. 2.6.2 Emotions and images of other states
You probably recall the concept of political images which was discussed in lecture one .
May be you recall that images are perception that states have of other states after appraising
them and assigning them to various categories. Can you recall some of these categories or
images? Cottam and Cottam (2001) argued that certain emotions are closely associated with
particular images. In this section therefore I will explore the emotions attached to various
images.
The first image is diabolic enemy image
. This is associated with intensely perceived threat
and very intense affect and emotions. Some of the emotions associated with the enemy
include anger, frustration, envy, jealousy, fear, distress and possibly grudging respect. An
enemy’s successes is considered unfair. When bad things happen and goals are not met, the
enemy is blamed. People compete with the enemy and try to prevent the enemy from gaining
anything.
Each state sees the other as an enemy and adopt the same tough strategies to outdo resulting
to serious security dilemmas.
They lead to spiral conflicts in which each side matches and
one –ups the actions taken by the other side and other types of aggression that result from
misunderstanding each other’s motives. Barbarian image
is of aggressive people who are monolithic in decision structure, cunning
and willing to resort to unspeakable brutality including genocide. Are determined to take full
advantage of their superiority. Emotions commonly associated with barbaric image are
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disgust more than contempt, anger and fear. People who do not share this image will be
accused of cowardice and treason. This image does not lead to an aggressive defence posture
but to a search for allies who can be persuaded of the probability that a failure to deal with
this threat will affect seriously and adversely their own national interest. They build
coalitions to overcome their weakness and improve their ability to contain the barbarian.
Imperial image
occurs when people of a state perceive threat from another state which is
viewed as superior in terms capability and culture. The imperial power is perceived to be
motivated by the desire to exploit the resources of the colonized people. Hence it is
accompanied with anti-imperialism component. People who collaborate with the imperial
power are viewed by those resisting it as profiting hugely from the relationship and as judged
as having betrayed their nation. The emotions associated with this image include fear of the
imperial power which yields to behavioural tendencies of self-protection and avoidance of
conflict with the imperialists. They may also feel jealous, anger and shame that they are in the
inferior position. These perceptions and emotions can push people toward antagonistic and
hostile actions against the superior group, including rebellion, even though they are well
aware of the potential consequences. When the relationship is considered just and legitimate,
the imperialists express paternalistic affection for the subordinate group and subordinates are
likely to respect the imperial group . Rogue Image:
This is an image that was held during the cold war. Leaders of the West held an
image of a dependent enemy, in which a country was viewed as inferior in capability and
culture but controlled and supported by the enemy. That image disappeared with the end of
the cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, former allies of the Soviet
Union along with some other countries (such as North Korea, Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Serbia and
Iran) were seen as both inferior and threatening.
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American policy makers often refer to rogue states. For example American reaction to
Saddam Hussein’s resistance to weapons inspection was to attack a rogue with the full force
of America’s military might. President Bush repeatedly stated that there would be no
negotiation with Saddam Hussein and that he had to do what he was told to do or be
punished. Often one individual is assumed to be responsible for the behaviour of the rogue
state.
D
egenerate image
is one associated with the perception of an opportunity to achieve a goal
at the expense of a country that is seen as relatively equal or even greater in capability and
culture. Even though a country seen as degenerate may be more powerful than the perceiver’s
country, it is also seen as uncertain and confused in motivation and is characterized by a
highly differentiated leadership that lacks a clear sense of direction and is incapable of
constructing an effective strategy. Degenerates are believed to be unable to master the will
and determination to make effective use of their power instruments or to mobilize effective
public support. Fellow citizens who do not share this image are seen as wimps. The emotions
as associated with the image are disgust, contempt, scorn and anger, all of which may
ultimately turn to hatred. This leads to desire to eliminate the offensive group which can
result to a dangerous underestimation of an adversary’s abilities. Contempt and disgust
combine with anger and scorn, and this can lead to dehumanization and genocidal violence.
Leaders of German and Japan before World War 11 made statements about and committed
acts toward the United Kingdom ,United States of America and France that indicated their
degenerate image of those countries Colonial Image
occurs when an opportunity is identified to gain control over another polity
or group perceived as significantly inferior in capability and culture. The people are
perceived to be childlike and inferior and the political elite are typically perceived to fall into
one of two groups: One group is seen as willingness to collaborate with the imperial power,
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the other group in contrast is seen as behaving in an agitating and irresponsible manner
opposing the imperial purpose, sometimes to the point of allying with and serving the
interests of enemies of the colonial power.
Members of the colonial power regard the colonial populace with disgust and contempt, but
also with pity. Behaviour’s associated with the image include wanting to avoid contamination
from contact with the inferior group or moving forcefully against them to punish bad
behaviour.
2.7 Attitudes
An attitude can be generally defined as a fairly stable organization of beliefs, feelings and
behavioural tendencies directed towards some object such as person or group. Attitudes that
are strong, clear and consistent over time and that are directly and specifically relevant to a
certain behaviour are more likely to be associated with behaviour leading to attitude-
behaviour consistency. Inconsistencies can come from weak or ambivalent attitude. The affective and cognitive
components of an attitude may be in some conflict, which also reduces the changes of attitude
–behaviour consistency. For example, some men and women may think intellectually that
gender-based discrimination is wrong, but they are emotionally upset when men and women
do not conform to gender-related roles. Situational pressures can also affect the relationship
between attitudes and behaviour. When situational pressures are very strong, attitudes are not
likely to be as strong a determinant of behaviour as when situational pressures are relatively
weak.
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Situation pressures can include social norms or contextual affects, which heighten the
salience of or perspective on a certain attitude. Individual differences are also important in
explaining inconsistencies between what people think and how they behave. Some people are
high self-monitors, meaning that they are very attentive to social norms and the impression
they make in social situations. They are less likely to act consistently on the basis of their
attitudes and instead act as they think the situation demands.
Attitude influences political behaviours such as voting behaviour, or persuasion, and in
relation to media effects on political behaviour
2.8 SUMMARY
.
In this lecture we have discussed psychological concepts that are relevant in understanding
political actions. Concepts discussed are information processing processes including various
types of heuristics: availability, Imaginability and representative heuristics. Various ways in
which errors are made in the processes and their political implications have been discussed
.These are: fundamental attribution error, positivity effect, consistency-dissonance theory and
social identity theory. We have also discussed the role of emotions and attitudes in politics.
2.9 NOTE Human being’s mind has a thinking and feeling component which eventually determines the
kind of political behavior expressed.
2.10 ACTIVITIES
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In your notebook write down examples of states that hold each other with the following
images a) Diabolic image b) Rogue image c) Colonial image d) Imperial image e)Barbarian
image 2.11 FURTHER READING
Redlawsk D.P. (2006) Feeling Political Emotions in Political Information Processing.
London: Palgrave Macmillan 2.12 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Identify the most politically relevant emotions
2.
Explain the errors people make while processing political information
3.
Describe five types of political images that are as a result of political categorization
PERSONALITY AND POLITICS
LECTURE 3
3.1
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this lecture is help you understand how personality affects political behaviour
and what personality characteristics are most politically relevant. In this case i will discuss
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the meaning of the term personality followed by theoretical perspectives of personality and
conclude with the frameworks used to analyse political personalities.
3.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lecture you should be able to:
1)
Define the term personality.
2)
Discuss the influences of political behaviour according to psychoanalytic, trait and
motive theories.
3)
Explain the frameworks used in psychology to describe political personalities
3.3 What is personality?
Let us start by describing what personality is. Personality refers to a construct that accounts
for the regularities in an individual’s behaviour as he or she responds to diverse stimuli.
Preston & Young (1966) notes that it refers to important and relatively stable aspects of a
person’s behaviour that account for consistent patterns of behavioural aspects which may be
observable or unobservable and conscious or unconscious. In this course what is important to
you is mainly how particular aspects of personality explain political behaviour. Personality
affects how people think and behave in the political arena but it is also affected by the life
experiences of individuals. Now let us explore to what extent personality influence political behaviour, do you think
personality always determine political behaviours; Personalities may sometimes matter with
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regard to policy outcomes however it would be a mistake to argue that they always matter.
Context is also an important factor.
A person’s personality is as important as the context in which the behaviour is observed.
Situation provides the stage upon which the person will interact with his or her environment,
providing both opportunities for action and constraints upon it (Michel, 1973). The likelihood
of personal impact increases with the degree that environment admits restructuring. Thus when individuals have the personal power resources due to their position in the political
system (i.e. president, prime minister, governor) and the situation allows them to exert this
power to influence the policy process, their strengths or weaknesses, personality and
experience will have an impact on policy (Fred Greenstein, 1969). From this discussion then,
you can simply say that political behaviour is as a result of interaction between an
individual’s personality together with its strengths and weaknesses and political actors’
location in the environment .In the following section I will explore more on the personality in
relation various psychological theories.
3.4 THEORIES AND APPROACHES TO STUDYING PERSONALITY
Though there are many different theories regarding personality in this section I will only
discuss the ones that have been used by scholars in studying personalities of political actors.
3.4.1 PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES
The Psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud (1932,1950,1962) emphasizes the role of
unconscious mind in human behaviour and motives and drives that underlie behaviour. Of
the three levels of consciousness (conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious) unconscious
level is the one that mainly controls behaviour while the conscious plays a minimal role.
Freud also viewed personality as an energy system driven by aggressive and sexual drives.
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People are motivated to satisfy those drives; a force Freud called the pleasure principle.
Behaviour is a product of these drives and the unconscious efforts by individuals to suppress
and channel the desire to act out in search of satisfaction. Living in society requires people to
deny the pleasure principle which may result to pathologies such as anxiety, obsession and
defence mechanism.
Now let me introduce you to the structure of personality according to Freud. He based the
structure of personality on three elements:
id, ego and superego.
The id is the first structure to
develop and is present at birth. It includes instincts and responses of bodily functions such as
hunger and operates on pleasure principle. The ego moderates between the id and its desire
for pleasure and realities of the social world. Ego follows
reality principle.
The superego
operates on a
moral principle
and is socially constructed. It is about what is good and bad
according to societal values.
When the ego is threatened people feel anxiety. Anxiety can be realistic or neurotic. Neurotic
anxiety is a fear of being punished for doing something that id wants the person to do. Moral
anxiety occurs when there is a conflict between the id and superego. When ego experiences
anxiety, defence mechanisms are employed to defend it. These are techniques used to distort
reality and prevent people from feeling anxiety. Examples include sublimation, repression
which is elimination of an unpleasant memory, projection involve attributing ones
unacceptable behaviours to others , rationalization involves trying to make ones unacceptable
behaviour to appear acceptable and denial which is an outright refusal to admit or recognize
that something has occurred or is currently occurring . Freud’s ideas were evident in the theories of many psychologists who succeeded him. Fromm
(1941, 1955,1964) for example explored the interactions between people and society and
argued that change in human society produced freedom from certain restraints such as
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serfdom and slavery but in the process, people experienced an increase in alienation and
insecurity . To improve on this they could pursue the positive freedom of a humanistic society
in which people treat one another with respect and love, or they could renounce freedom and
accept totalitarian political and social system. Erikson (1950, 1958,1969) is famous for his
work on individual stages of personality development and identity. He maintained that the
ego continues to grow after childhood and that society has an impact on personality. Many
people who take a psychoanalytic approach in examining political figures use the Psycho
biographical method. What are psychobiographies?
Psychobiography involve an examination of the life history of an individual. Usually it
involves quite detailed in-depth case studies of individual leaders tracing their personal,
social, and political development from early childhood onwards. Seek to identify consistent
patterns of behaviour across time that can be explained using psychoanalytic analysis. This is
against the assumption that leader’s personalities or political styles are shaped by their early
childhood socialization experiences. One of the most important examples of a psychobiography is the study of Woodrow Wilson
written by Alexander and Juliette George. In their classic book ,
Woodrow Wilson and Colonel
House (1964)
they used a psychoanalytic approach to explain Wilson’s highly moralistic,
rigid, and uncompromising political style while in the White House. They argue that it was the result of a childhood in a strict Calvinist household, where
morality and distinctions between good and evil was emphasized above all.His minister
father constantly belittled Woodrow and severely punished him for any perceived
transgression. As a result Wilson developed a rigid driven political personality in which he sought to
accomplish great moral deeds to compensate for his own feelings of low –self-esteem. Given
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his difficult relationship with his stern disciplinarian father, Wilson bridled at authority
figures and internalized their criticism as personally directed at him. Not only did he see the
world in absolutist terms but felt that compromise on moral issues was immoral. These
patterns developed throughout his childhood and young adulthood and followed him into the
white house. His effort to create a League of Nations took on the form of a great moral
crusade.
Another focus of psychoanalytic studies of personality and politics has been on
psychopathologies or psychological disorders. These began with Lasswell’s work,
Psychopathology and Politics
(1930/1960). He maintained that the behaviour of some
political leaders is affected by their psychopathologies. He attributed modern understanding
of psychopathology to Freud’s innovative ideas. For example Costa and McCrae (1985) examined neuroticism; a personality disorder
characterized by anxiety, self-consciousness, vulnerability, hostility, depression and
impulsiveness. Volkan (1980) argues that narcissistic people seek leadership roles in
relentless search for power and use others in their climb to power. Such individuals often
seem charismatic and rise to power in times of crisis when followers are searching for strong
leaders who will improve things. Birts analysis of Joseph Stalin found description of his personality fit the pattern associated
with paranoia. Paranoid personalities are quite complex. They function along two continua:
aggression and narcissism. Aggressions can be manifested at one extreme as victims and at
the other as aggressors. Narcissism ranges from feelings of inferiority to superiority. Paranoid
people swing from one end of each continuum to the other. Birt argues that Stalin’s paranoia
not only affected the international policies of the Soviet Union but his career as well. He
argues that Stalin is the classical example of a paranoid individual whose paranoia helped
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him rise to the top of a highly centralized political structure and once there turn bureaucratic
institutions of the Soviet Union into extensions of his inner personality disorder. In general, Political psychologists seeking to examine personality disorders in leaders will
employ the widely accepted American Psychiatric Associations (2000) diagnostic criteria to
guide and structure their analysis of leader personality and behaviour. The psychoanalytic theory has however been criticized due to empirical problems arising
from the fact that his research was not controlled but relied upon his recollections of therapy
sessions with patients which he recorded after the fact. He presented his findings as personal
conclusions without the original data and those conclusions may have been subject to biases
as a result of the fact that he relied on his own recollections of discussions. His method for reaching conclusions was not revealed and there was no systematic
presentation either quantitative or qualitative of his empirical findings. His theory is also not
pen to empirical testing. This is partly because much of his theory of personality is based
upon unobservable abstract ideas and partly because there are so many theoretically possible
behaviour’s that are manifestations of psychoanalytic issues a person may have. 3.4.2 TRAIT THEORIES Having looked into the psychoanalytic theory lets us now focus on trait theories.
Traits are personality characteristics that are stable over time and in different situations
(Pervin & John, 1997).Trait produce predispositions to think, feel or act in a particular
pattern toward people, events and situations. Gordon Allport pioneered the work on traits and regarded personality traits to be central in
determining how people respond to their environment. He distinguished between central,
cardinal and secondary traits. Cardinal traits are critically important and dominate a
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person’s life such that almost every behaviour of an individual is traceable to it. A good
example is authoritarianism, sadism and Machiavellian. Allport contends that these are
rare and that most people have few cardinal traits or none at all. Central traits affect
people regularly but not in every situation e.g. honesty. Secondary traits are least important
and most irregular in affecting behaviour. He also emphasized the importance of
motivation as a driving force in human behaviour. For him, motivation was not hidden in
the unconscious or derived from childhood experiences but consciously considered
through cognitive processes. Eysenck (1975,1979) identified three personality trait dimensions: introversion –
extroversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. The introvert –extrovert trait refers to how
outgoing a person is, the neuroticism trait describe how emotionally stable a person is and
psychoticism describe how isolated and insensitive to others a person is. Other important
early traits theorists include Cattell (1964, 1965: Cattell and Child, 1975) and McClelland
(1975). In recent years psychologists have sought to develop a taxonomy of personality traits that
constitute the basic units of personality. Using several different research techniques
including factor analysis of traits and analysis of trait questionnaires Costa and McCrae,
1985 developed five central personality traits. The Big Five personality dimensions or
traits have received most attention in the last two decades. They are neuroticism,
extroversion, agreeableness, openness to experience and conscientiousness.(OCEAN,
CANOE, NEOAC).People can be high or low in these traits, which implies that there is a
continuum along which different individuals fall. Traits used in political psychology are related to traits described in the general psychology
literature but they are presented in their political manifestation. Individuals who score high
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on openness to experience for example appears to have cognitive complexity, interest in
politics, integrative complexity etc. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is similar to the Big Five with the exception of
neuroticism. It is a personality assessment measure to the study of political personality.
The MBTI assumes that individual personality reveals itself in the form of specific
preferences for certain kinds of environments, tasks, and cognitive patterns. s. The Myers-Briggs Type indicator (MBTI) is a personality assessment scale commonly
used in the study of political personality and for job profiling. For example applying these
measures to former president Bill Clinton’s life prior to his arrival in the White House,
Lyons (1997) argues that Clinton falls squarely into the extroversion, intuition, feeling and
perceiving categories. Theories in political psychology induce that one’s combination of
these traits has implications for leadership style and capacity. For example individuals
who score highly on extroversion are demonstrated as having superior leadership skill.
Given the predictions of the MBTI for the ENFP personality type, Lyons,1997
suggests
that Clinton would be expected to seek close attachments to other people, be very skilful
at establishing such attachments, seek out people to people work professionally, be
optimistic, warmly enthusiastic, high spirited and charismatic: be brilliantly perceptive
about other people, draw followers and be an excellent politician .Appear insincere
sometimes due to a tendency to adapt to other people in the way he presents his objective,
be innovative, yet undisciplined ,disorganized and indecisive: hate rules and find it
difficult to work within the constraints of institutions: thrive on constant change and begin
more projects than can reasonably complete etc.
MBTI is composed of four scales of preferences as demonstrated below:
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Introversion vs Extroversion
(Introspective, reserved, seeking solitude ( Expressiveness and gregariousness )
Sensing vs intuition (favouring
literal,
empirical
perception)
favouring
abstract,
Figurative perception)
Thinking vs feeling
Favouring objective, detached favouring subjective, value-or logical decision making
emotion-based decision making
Judging vs perceiving
(Seeking resolution and order) (Curious, spontaneous, tolerant of disorder
3.4.3 MOTIVE THEORIES
Motives are those aspects of personality concerned with goals and goal- directed
actions. Motives energize, direct and select behaviour. The motives that have received the
most attention and are regarded as the Big Three in both psychology and political
psychology are
The need for power
i.e. concern for impact and prestige
Need for affiliation or intimacy
i.e. concern for close relations with others,
Need for achievement
i.e. concern for excellence and task accomplishment. Winter and Stewart (1977) argued that those high in power and low in affiliation/ intimacy
make better presidents, those high in power also require a far greater degree of personal
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control over the policy process and the actions of subordinates than do low power
personalities.
People high in the need for power exhibit more control, domineering behaviour towards
subordinates than low power people. Affiliation-motivated leaders alternatively tend to
collaborate joint efforts in the absence of threat. Lastly, achievement motivation has
demonstrated to not correspond with political success, especially if it is higher than power
motivation. Motivation between a leader and those whom they are ruling needs to be
consistent for success (Winter, 1977). He argued that a leaders popular appeal is a
function of the fit between his motives and those of society. Motives have been shown to
be correlated more highly with situation and time since last goal-fulfilment, rather than
consistent traits.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a method for assessing motives used by clinical
psychologists. This method involves giving participants a picture and having them write
imaginative stories about it and then doing a content analysis of the stories. The stories
reveal underlying personality. 3.5 FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING PERSONALITY
Having looked into the theoretical perspectives of political personality let us explore the
basis that are used in analysing them. Frameworks are outlines used to study political
leaders. There is no common agreed –upon empirical approach to the study of political
leaders in political psychology (Cottam ) Instead there has been a broad interdisciplinary
literature that borrow concepts from a variety of sources. These combine personality based
( Freudian, authoritarian ) with non –personality based variables such as an individual’s
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first political success, socialization experiences, belief systems. There are also some
personality-based studies that are applied to both leaders and the average person such as
authoritarian personality studies.
3.5.1 The authoritarian personality
The post-World War 11 study of an authoritarian personality type began with the work of
Adorno, Frenkel –Brunswik, Lewin-son and Stanford (1950) which was based on
psychoanalytic arguments. Authoritarian personalities were argued to be products of
authoritarian patterns of childhood upbringing and a resultant weak ego. The parents of
authoritarians were insensitive to the difficulties their children experienced as they tried to
learn how to control id-derived impulses and thus feared those impulses. They developed
iron-tight defensive techniques that would prevent them from confrogntin those impulses.
They regard their parents and subsequent authority in their lives with a mixture of
resentment and dependence. Adornoet.al (1950) saw the authoritarian personality as composed of several central
personality traits including conventionalism (rigid adherence to conventional values),
submission ( to authority figures), authority aggression( aggressive impulses towards those
who are not conventional), anti-intraception (rejection of tenderness, imagination,
subjectivity) superstition and stereotype (fatalistic belief in mystical determinants of the
future and rigid thinking), high value placed on power and toughness, destructiveness and
cynicism, sex obsession and projectivity (outward projection of unacceptable impulses)
and an excessive concern with the sexual activity of others. Altemeyer
(1996) deconstructed the authoritarian personality using trait analysis.
He
developed a Right-wing Authoritarianism
(RWA) scale based on the traits;
authoritarian
su
b
mission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism. Altemeyer (1996) suggested
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that those who score high on the F-scale have a low ability for critical thinking and
therefore are less able to contradict authority. Psychologically, right-wing authoritarianism
is about submission to perceived authorities, particularly those in the establishment of
system of governance. The system could be a repressive right -wing system as it was in
South Africa .apartheid.
Altmeyer’s theories also incorporate the psychodynamic point of view, suggesting that
authoritarian personality types were taught by their parents to believe that the world was a
dangerous place and thus their impulses lead them to make impulsive, emotional and
irrational decisions. The beliefs and behaviours of an authoritarian are suggested to be
easily manipulated by authority instead of being based on internal values. He also
theorized that leaders with authoritarian personality types were more susceptible to the
fundamental attribution error
. 3.5.2 Trait-based frameworks
Trait-based frameworks, were suggested by James Barber
(1930–2004) in The Presidential
Character (1972).He highlighted the importance of psychobiography
in political personality
analysis. Barber suggested that leadership personality comprised three dimensions; character,
world view, and style. Style reflects the habitual way a president performs his three political roles (rhetoric speech
making, personal relations and homework). World view consist of the leaders primary
politically relevant beliefs regarding such things as social causality, human nature and the
central moral conflict of the time. Character is the way in which a president orients himself
towards life and his own merits (that is his sense of self- esteem and the criteria by which he
judges himself such as by achievement or affection. Barber (1972) seeks to capture how
presidential character (or the basic stance a man) takes shape toward his presidential
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experience. This is reflected in two basic dimensions:1) the energy and effort he puts into his
job (active or passive) and 2) the personal satisfaction he derives from his presidential duties
(positive or negative)
Barber’s Typology of Presidential Character Personal satisfaction with presidents duties
Energy put in the job
Positive
Negative
Active
Derives
great
personal
satisfaction and is highly
engaged(
examples:
Jefferson,
Roosevelt,
Truman, Kennedy, Ford,
Carter, Bush, Clinton)
Derives
little
personal
satisfaction yet is highly
engaged (examples: Adams,
Wilson, Hoover, Johnson,
Nixon)
Passive
Enjoys
both
personal
satisfaction from the job, but
puts little energy into it
(Madison, Taft, Harding,
Reagan, G.W. Bush)
Derives
little
personal
satisfaction and pulls little
energy into it (Washington,
Coolidge, Eisenhower)
Barber also proposed that leadership typology followed a pattern leading from an individual’s
first political success. On other traits Etheredge (1978) proposed the importance of the
following traits; dominance, interpersonal trust, self-esteem and introversion-extroversion, in
leadership views and policy shaping. Etheredge found from studies on leaders during the
Soviet Union, that those who scored highly on dominance were more likely to support the use
of force during debate settlement. He found that the trait introversion can lead to lack of co-
operation, and that extraversion usually leads to cooperation and negotiation. Further he
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44
suggested that interpersonal trust and self-esteem were closely related to not advocating for
force. 3.6 SUMMARY
.
In this lecture I have discussed the perspectives of psychoanalytic and trait theories on
personalities of political leaders as well as authoritarian and trait frameworks that are used to
analyse the political personalities.
3.7 NOTE Personality plays a central role in Psychology and Political Psychology. It affects how people
think and behave in political contexts.
3.8 ACTIVITIES
From what you have learnt in this lecture in your note book analyze the personality of one
African leader using any one framework. Illustrate with examples how African political leaders make use of defense mechanisms 3.9 FURTHER READING Cottam, M. L., Dietz-Uhler,B.,Mastors,E.,& Preston,T.(2010) Introduction to political
psychology,
2
nd
ed. New York: Psychology Press
3.10 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
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1.
Explain how the key concepts of Freud’s theory help in understanding political
personalities.
2.
Distinguish three personality traits according to Allport.
3.
Identify three motives that influence political personality’s behavior.
4.
Describe the characteristics of an authoritarian personality.
POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF GROUPS 1
LECTURE 4
4.1
INTRODUCTION
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Much of political activities are performed by groups. In this lecture I will discuss the
behaviors of political groups by exploring the types of groups, influence of political
groups on members, performance of groups and ways of improving group performance. 4.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lecture you should be able to:
1.
Describe the various types of groups
2.
Explain how political groups influence the behavior of members
3.
Discuss ways in which political groups productivity can be improved
4.3 THE NATURE OF GROUPS
Definition of a group
Most social psychologists agree that a group is a collection of people who are perceived
to belong together and are dependent on one another. Moreland (1987) suggest that
groupiness or some level of social integration is an important quality in any group. As the
level of social integration increases people start to think and act more like a group
4.3.1 Types of groups
Various researchers have provided typologies of groups. Prentice, Miller and Lightdale
(1994) investigated common-bond groups and common identity groups.
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Common bond groups
are based on the attachments between group members based on
such things as member similarities, likability and familiarity with group members.
Examples of common bond groups are social groups such as music groups, sports teams
and performing groups. Common identity groups are based on attachment to the group
than they are to individual members of the group. Deaux, Reid, Mizrahi and Ethier (1995) focused on the dimensions of social identity and
identified social identities such as: personal relationships (e.g. democrat, republican)
stigmatized groups (e.g., alcoholic, unemployed person), and ethnic/ religious groups
(e.g., catholic, Hispanic).
(Lickel et al., 2000), has identified four categories of groups, (1) Intimacy groups such as
families and romantic relationships, (2) Task oriented groups consist of groups such as
committees and work groups,( 3) social categories groups such as women and Americans
and (4) weak social relationships or associations which include such groups as those who
enjoy a certain type of music or those who live in the same neighborhood. Why is it important to understanding types of groups? It is important because different
groups serve different functions and fulfill different needs. For instance intimacy groups
fulfill needs for affiliation, task groups fulfill the need for achievement and social
category groups are associated with needs for identity. Political groups fall into the task-
oriented type as well as social categories such as ethnic groups, racial groups or women
all with a particular political issues of concern.
4.3.2
GROUP STRUCTURE
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Every group has a structure which develop quickly and change slowly. Aspects of group
structure include status, roles, norms and cohesion. Status in a group refers to how power
is distributed among its members. Indicators of high status include nonverbal behavior
such as standing more erect, maintaining eye contact and being more physically intrusive,
speaking more, interrupting more and being more likely to be spoken to.
The manner in which people acquire status can be explained by two theories; expectations
status theory which suggests that the expectations of a person on their personal
characteristics contribute to group member’s sense of the sorts of accomplishments a
person can achieve. Ethological theories maintain that a group member acquires status
when other group members assess the person’s strength, by evaluating their behavior and
appearances. Roles are expectations about how a person ought to behave. Roles specify the general
behaviour expected of people who occupy different positions within the group. (Forsyth,
2009). Roles that are well-played benefit the group. Roles however create conflicts in
groups as a result of role assignment, role ambiguity or uncertainty about how to behave
in a role and role strain which entail lack of knowledge or ability to fulfill the role.
Norms refer to expectations about how all group members should behave. There is
usually a strong pressure to maintain them. Sanctions can be imposed on members who
violate the norms. Adherence to norms improves the performance of a group .For
example in groups that have norms of productivity or success, group members become
more motivated to engage in behaviors or tasks that ensure the success of the group. On
the other hand adherence to norms can sometimes impede the performance of a group. If
a norm of laziness develops for example then group members might work less hard to
achieve their goals.
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Cohesion refers to the factors that cause a group member to remain in the group.
Cohesion exerts powerful effects on a group’s longevity and performance. Members of
cohesive groups are more likely to participate in group activities, perform better and to
remain in the group. There are several factors that affect the development of group
cohesion. a)
Spending more time together. b)
The extent of member’s likability of each other. c)
Rewarding system , more rewarding groups increasing cohesion. d)
External threats to a group can increase the group’s cohesiveness (Dion, 1979). e)
Leadership of the group. Leaders who encourage warmth among members will
promote cohesiveness. 4.3.3 Group composition
Groups can also differ in size and composition. Some may be typically small, containing
just two or three persons. Small groups are advantageous in that group members
participate more, display more commitment to the group and are less likely to conflict.
Groups also
differ in terms
of i
ndividual group members based on sex, race, ethnicity
and physical attractiveness. Such diversities can be very important to the functioning of
the group as well as being an impediment. It can result to diversity in communication
which can be harmful as members communicate less with each other. This may result in
interpersonal conflicts. 4.3.4
Group formation
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In this section, I will explore how the groups are formed. There are two perspectives that
attempts to explain why groups are formed. These are functional and interpersonal needs
perspectives. The functional perspective suggests that groups form because they fulfill a need
for their individual members. (Mackie and Goethals 1987). These are survival, psychological,
informational, interpersonal and collective needs. The second perspective is the interpersonal attraction perspective which suggests that, groups
form because its members like one another and seek to spend time together. Thus the group of
friends you spend time with, formed because you all liked one another and wanted to spend
time together. 4.3.5 Group development
Having discussed the types, composition and formation of groups, I will now focus on how
groups develop. Group development refers to the stages of growth and changes that occur in a
group, from its formation to its dissolution .Basically groups follow five stages: forming,
storming, and norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman 1965 Tuckman and Jensen,
1977)
Forming stage: This is the first stage and is also referred to as the orientation stage because
prospective members are orienting themselves and getting to know one another. The stage
is often characterized by tension, prospective group members are on guard, reluctant to share
much information or to discuss r personal views.
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Storming stage: This stage is
characterized by conflicts which can be caused by minor
disagreements and eventually disrupts the group. Conflicts can serve as an important
catalysts for group development by promoting group unity, interdependence, stability and
cohesion Norming stage: In this phase, conflict is replaced with cohesion and feelings of unity. It is
characterized by a sense of belonging, group member’s identification, increased pressure to
conform, stability, and low turnover of members. Performing stage: Characterized by performance .This is usually experienced when groups
mature and have successfully gone through the previous stages of development. (Forsyth
1990). Adjourning stage: A group’s decision to dissolve (adjourning) can either be planned or
spontaneous. A planned dissolution occurs when the group accomplishes its intended goals or
exhausts its time and resources. Spontaneous dissolutions occur when unanticipated problems
arise that prevent the group from continuing. Examples of groups with unplanned
dissolutions include those that have repeatedly failed or those that fail to satisfy their
member’s needs.
4.4 INFLUENCE IN GROUPS
Groups can exert a great deal of influence over their members. This may occur through
conformity or through power processes.
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Conformity refers to the tendency to change one’s beliefs or behaviors so that they are
consistent with the standards set by the group. Though conformity can lead to harmony and
peace, being labeled a conformist can be a negative label. People conform either to be liked or to be correct. Conforming to be correct is referred to as
informational social influence. This occurs whenever we are uncertain about the correct or
appropriate action hence rely on others for information. Imagine being in a voting station
unaware of the process. What can you do to make sure you do it right? You may spend some
time observing what other people are doing hence gather enough information to enable you
vote properly. In this case you will use other people’s actions or opinions to define reality. Conforming to be liked and accepted is referred to as normative social influence. Sometimes
people give a clearly wrong answer in order to be liked and accepted by the group. In these
situations the group has a powerful unspoken influence over group member’s behavior. Jane
and Olson (2000) investigated ‘jeer pressure’ ; the tendency to conform in order to avoid
rejection from peers When we observe another person being rejected by the group there is a
tendency to conform even more strongly to the standards set by the group, presumably to
avoid similar rejection from group members.
Some aspects of a situation lead to more pressure to conform than others
This known as
situational conformity .These factors include the size of the group, unanimity, commitment to
the group and individuation and de-individuation. Individuation refers to the desire to be
distinguishable from others on some aspect. Some people have a greater desire than others to
differentiate themselves. Those high in the desire for individuation are less likely to conform
than those low in individuation. Equally de-individuation can increase conformity. When this
occurs, people attribute their behavior to being part of the group’s behavior and there is a
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diffusion of responsibility. People feel less responsible for their actions when those actions
take place in a group context than they would if they committed those acts alone. Conformity can also be influenced by the presence of a dissenter in the group .This is known
as minority influence. Dissenters or small faction of the group influence the group by
refusing to go along with the group. However to effect the influence they must be consistent
in their opposition and are able to disclaim the majority’s arguments successfully. Power can be defined as the ability to influence other individuals. In groups, power can be
advantageous in a way that, powerful group members can resolve group conflicts more
efficiently than those with less power (Levine and Moreland, 1998).Powerful members are
better-liked and tend to be granted the responsibility to be leaders. However, power can be
disadvantageous when it lead to faulty perceptions of oneself and others. Group member’s
ability to exert power over other on members or the entire group can be derived from one or
more of the following kinds of power: reward, coercive, legitimate, referent and expert. Reward power is the ability to control the distribution of positive and negative rein forcers.
In groups, rewards include praise for good performance, money for good work completed and
trophies for winning championships. Group members who can control the distribution of
those rewards are granted the most power. However this can only happen if the rewards are
valued by the group member, if the group member depend on the power holder for the
reward, and if the power holder’s promises are sincere (Forsyth, 1990). Coercive
power refers to the capacity to punish those who do not comply with their request or
demands. For example if one country threatens another with attacks or boycotts then the
country is using coercive power. Referent power involve
identifying with someone because
they are similar or because they want to be liked by them. When you try to imitate a politician
because you would want to be like them, the politician has referent power.
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Expert power is based on special knowledge, skills or ability that one possesses. Physicians
for example are often afforded a great deal of power because of the knowledge and ability
they possess. Of course expert power can only be exerted if the target of power is aware of
the power holder’s special knowledge or talent. One of the goals of power exertion is to effect
change which include compliance, attraction, conflict, rebellion, motivation and self- blame.
4.5 GROUP PERFORMANCE
Groups are often assumed to accomplish more and perform better than individuals. However
this is not always the case. There are psychological factors that affects performance in
groups. These are social facilitation and social inhibition. Social facilitation implies that presence of other people in some situations effects a better
performance than when alone. Social inhibition occurs when the presence of others prevents
performance. Three factors explain this: arousal evaluation, apprehension and distraction.
Zajonc (1965, 1980) argued that the mere presence of others increases the arousal level of the
performer. When individuals are in a heightened state of arousal, the tendency to display a
dominant response is increased. If the dominant response is not the correct one then social
inhibition occurs. (Cottrell, 1972) agrees that the presence of others causes arousal but he
argues that the source of arousal is evaluation, apprehension, or the anxiety created by the
fear that one is being evaluated.
Other factors that affect group performance are group’s coordination losses and motivation
losses. Coordination losses occurs when the responses of members are not coordinated in a
way that enhances group productivity. Motivation losses on the other hand occur when
individual group members fail to exert their maximum effort on a task. One motivation loss
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that is of great importance is social loafing. Social loafing refers to the tendency of group
members to work less hard when in a group than when working alone. One of the earliest
studies of social loafing was conducted by Ringelmann(1913) who found that people exerted
less effort when pulling a rope or pushing a cart ,if they worked in a group than if they
worked alone. Social loafing can result to serious performance decrease. This can be reduced by having
clear definition of each member’s contribution and having them take personal responsibility
for the group’s outcome. Another factor is ensuring that the work is interesting and involving.
PUT A VIDEO LINK SHOWING SOCIAL FACILITATION AND SOCIAL
LOAFING
4.6 SUMMARY
.
In this lecture I have discussed political psychology of groups have been discussed under the
following subtopics: types of groups, nature of groups influence of groups on members and
group performance.
4.7 NOTE Much of political behaviour is performed by groups and though groups are comprised of
individuals, understanding group behaviour cannot be achieved by studying individuals.
4.8 FURTHER READING
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Cottam, M. L., Dietz-Uhler,B.,Mastors,E.,& Preston,T.(2010) Introduction to political
psychology,
2
nd
ed. New York: Psychology Press
4.9 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Differentiate between common-bond groups and identity groups
2.
State two reasons why people conform to political group
3.
Explain how the following types of power exercised by political group leaders
influence the behavior of group members : a) Reward power ,b) Coercive power and
d) Legitimate power
4.
Explain two psychological factors that influence performance in groups
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POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF GROUPS 2 ; DECISION MAKING PROCESS
AND CONFLICTS IN GROUPS LECTURE 5
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In this second part of political psychology of groups you will learn about the psychological
processes that influence decision making in the groups. You will also learn about the conflicts
that characterize the groups and their causes.
5.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
1.
Describe how group polarization and group think occur in group’ s process of
decision making.
2.
Identify the symptoms of group think in a group.
3.
Explain the factors that influence group think
4.
Explain the causes of conflicts and tensions in political groups.
5.3 GROUP DECISION MAKING
I will begin with the process of decision making in groups. You have learnt in the lecture
above that a group perform better than individuals .This also applies to decision making,
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groups generally makes better decisions than average individuals. Groups have more time,
more information, fewer peculiarities and biases than an individual. However decision
making in a group can have some drawbacks. Groups sometimes may rush through a decision
without exploring everyone’s opinion while some individuals conform to the majority and
discard their own, possibly better opinions. One common drawback is group polarization. This occurs when members of a group move
together toward one pole (extreme position) or the other after discussing an issue. This is
because of both information and normative influence which occurs during the discussion.
Members become more aware of new arguments and new information. If most of the
members were leaning in one direction at the start then they hear many new arguments
favouring that side of the issue and few or none of the opposition they will shift their
position. Lack of balance between positive and negative arguments is essential for group’s polarization
to occur. Members .As the members of the group become more aware of the consensus
during the discussion they may also feel the pressure to conform, especially those who feel
that they are not fully accepted by the rest of the group. One extreme form of group
polarization is known as group think.
5.4 GROUP THINK
Group think is an excessive concern for reaching a consensus in group decision making, to
the extent that critical evaluations or input are withheld. The end result is a poor decision.
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Janis Irvin (1972,1983) maintains that this style of thinking emerges when group members
are so interested in maintaining harmony .within the group . Group think is especially likely
to occur in cohesive groups. To minimize group think pressure, some people have suggested designating someone as a
“devils advocacy” who is supposed to raise objections. However, when people know that
someone is required to raise objections, they discount those objections and solidify their
original opinions. A better strategy is for leaders to consult the advisors individually o avoid
being influenced by others. To prevent negative effects of group think the leader should
also be impartial and encourage each group member to give a critical evaluation
5.4.1 Factors which influence group think
Composition of the group: when members of a group accept a common goal, coordination
and exchange of information among the group members is easier and more complete.
Divisibility of the group work: Some of the tasks can easily be subdivided. The best use of
the group members can be when the task can be divided up.
Communication and status structure:
Higher status people will speak more and have more
influence, whereas the lower status people differ to those with higher status.
Group size: As the size of the group increases there is less participation by each member
Similarity
of the group members to each other
: group decision making is faster when the
group members are similar to each other. The absence of competing viewpoints means that
alternative decisions are less likely to be taken. The best group is heterogeneous because
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greater diversity becomes an asset .However differences should not produce hostilities and
stereotyped attitudes that make group functioning impossible.
5.4.2 Symptoms of group think
Janis notes 5 characteristics of group think
Feelings of invulnerability/illusions of feelings
-the group belief that it is beyond the reach
of the law because its actions are being carried out by some powerful individuals
Group belief in its rightness or
illusions of morality. The group’s apparent/obvious belief
that it is right.
The discrediting any information opposed to the groups decision
. Deciding that
information given is baseless and inconsistent with the best interest of the group
Pressures on the group members to conform
Stereotyping of members of the outgroup
, viewing any person with opposing views as evil
and stupid
5.5 CONFLICT AND TENSION IN GROUPS
In this final section I will explore the issue of conflicts and tension in groups. As you may be
aware or even experienced, conflicts are very common in groups. Members of a group can
conflict with each other in many ways. For example when people hold mutually
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contradictory views, opinions and beliefs, when members compete for scarce resources or
when members tries to exert their influence in the group.
Types of conflicts
in groups:
Types of conflicts are illustrated by various types of dilemmas. In a mixed-motive situation :
is a situation, the motivation to compete is mixed with the motivation to cooperate. The most
famous of this situation is demonstrated by an illustration of the “prisoner’s dilemma”. .In
this game, police suspects two prisoners and conspire to get confessions from them.
Participants cannot communicate with each other, however the outcome is dependent on what
the other person decides to confess. If both criminals confess, the authorities will charge each
equally for the serious crime. The district attorney will recommend the relatively lenient
sentence of five years apiece. However, if only one confesses, the situation changes. In that
case, the one who confesses will receive a very light sentence of only three months as a
reward for turning "state's evidence. On the other hand, the criminal who did not confess will
get the maximum sentence of 10 years. The criminals find themselves in a dilemma of
whether to compete or cooperate. PUT A VIDEO LINK SHOWING DEMONSTRATING THE PRISONERS
DILEMMA.
In another dilemma the N-person, more than two people are involved. Several outcomes are
possible, 1) a player benefits more from a non-cooperative choice than a cooperative one.2) a
non-cooperative choice is harmful to others in the group and finally ,the amount of harm to
others as a result of a non-cooperative choice is larger than the profit received as a result of
any choice.
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Another type of dilemmas is the collective trap in which behaviours that reward an individual
group member can be harmful to other members especially if engaged by enough group
member’s .For instance during water shortage and some individuals use too much water.
Finally, in the collective fences dilemma, the entire group is harmed if behaviours that are
costly to individuals are avoided by enough people. Imagine what would happen if majority
of us withhold our contributions the medical scheme. Many beneficiaries would suffer
. 5.6 CAUSES OF CONFLICTS
Conflicts in groups occurs because members are motivated to compete and cooperate. While
the members compete they choose actions that are incompatible. In a competition each
member may have the same goal but prefer different courses of action to reach that goal.
Agreement on the group's course of action is imperative to avoid conflict.
Second, you probably remember attributions theory ,discussed in lecture two. Attribution
refers to the explanations generated for the causes of our own and others behaviour.
Attribution could be due to dispositional factors such as personality rather than to situational
factors commonly known as fundamental attribution error. This is likely to increase
competition and escalate a conflict. Self -serving bias is attribution of positive things to self
while attributing the negative ones to others. This results to exaggeration of differences in
perspectives between ourselves and another group member which lead to conflict.
Third is lack of effective communication among members. Some members may criticize
others harshly leading to discomfort and tendency to revenge which only escalate conflicts.
Fourth is related to arousal/aggression hypothesis advanced by Berkowitz, (1989). Frustration
can lead to aggression, often displayed by lashing out at other group members. This can cause
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or even escalate an already existing conflict. Finally, is the commitment to one’s view point.
Group members become committed to their viewpoints especially when they are under
attack. They further try to reinforce their beliefs and they seek for information to confirm
rather than to refute their beliefs and try to rationalize their choices by overestimating its
favorableness. This leads them to becoming more committed to their beliefs and opinions.
5.7 SUMMARY
.
In this lecture, I have discussed the factors that influence decision making in groups including
polarization and group think. Types of conflicts and factors that causes conflicts in groups
have been discussed.
5. 8 NOTE Basically causes of conflicts are incompatible goals and not parties, therefore the focus of
solutions should be on making goals compatible.
5.9 ACTIVITIES
Reflect on the lecture above and based on Kenyan political parties
1.
Give examples of manifestations of group think. 2.
Explain reason for wrangles and conflicts within parties and how they can be
prevented.
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5.10
FURTHER READING
Cottam, M. L., Dietz-Uhler,B.,Mastors,E.,& Preston,T.(2010) Introduction to political
psychology,
2
nd
ed. Newyork: Psychology Press
5.10 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Explain how polarization affect decision making in groups.
2.
Discuss the factors that leads to group think.
3.
Explain the causes of conflicts in groups
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POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF VOTING
LECTURE SIX
6.1
INTRODUCTION
This lecture is intended to enhance your knowledge on psychological processes that influence
how people reach a decision on how to vote. The first section will discuss various ways used
by voters to process information and will be followed by the role of media and also emotions.
6.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
1)
Describe the mental shortcuts applied by voters in processing information and
making decisions on how to vote.
2)
Explain the role of emotions in voting.
3)
Explain how the media uses the following in shaping how people vote: agenda
setting, media faming and priming.
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6.3 INFORMATION PROCESSING AND VOTING
Information processing is concerned with how people take information shortcuts such as
schemas, heuristics and attitudes to help synthesis information on political issues .You
were introduced to these concepts in lecture two
and therefore in this lecture they will be
discussed in relation to how they are used as basis for evaluating a candidate and making
decisions on who to vote for. Schemas are used to filter information by providing people with a means for deciding
which information is correct, irrelevant or incorrect. This filtering process calls for
attention to information. Attention to information can be very selective in that people can
be more interested in one issue than another and hence are only attentive to information
about that particular issue. This could be information about a candidate or a party which
they support. However the question is how well people actually remember information as campaigns
progress. Do you think they remember every detail of the information acquired may be
from the media? The fact is that not every detail is remembered but the impression
created by the information acquired. As more information is acquired it is used to enhance
or update beliefs about a candidate or party and the specific details of the information are
forgotten. Likes and dislikes are influenced by the information and are remembered, but a person
may well be hard-pressed to explain what the liking or disliking is based upon. Imagine
that you watched a movie a while ago that you enjoyed. You cannot now recall many of the
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scenes that you liked but you know that you liked the movie. What sticks is the overall
assessment and that is what is important in determining the vote. The voters are able to
retrieve the overall evaluation which has been influenced by the campaigns but not the
information on which the evaluation is based. This perspective is called online perspective
( Houghton,2014)
In contrast to online perspective
is the memory-based perspective. The approach suggest that
once political information is encountered, When situation calls for judgement to be made, the
individual searches for information in the long-term memory that can be used to compute the
judgement. Thus the judgement is based on the information that can be retrieved.
The most critical use of heuristics was advanced by Popkin (1994).It includes projecting
from personal assessment of a candidate he/she was in previous office to an a assessment of
what kind of a leader he/she will be in future. People then decide on the future performance
of a candidate based on the goodness of fit between the candidate and the perceiver’s
stereotype of a good candidate for various positions vied for such as presidency,
parliamentary or civic. People then generate narratives about people with specific traits
serving as the foundation of a fuller picture of the individual under observation. In some cases small amount of personal information can dominate a large amount of
historical information about a past record. This result in Gresham’s law of political
information which states that personal information can drive more relevant political
information out of consideration. Another information shortcut is the drunkards search, named after the drunkard who lost his
keys in the streets and looks for them under the lamp post, because the light is better there not
because that is where he lost the keys. This reflects the use of information in political
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decisions where people reduce complicated issues and choices among candidates to simple
comparisons because it is easier that way.
An attitude that is used in information acquisition is partnership as described by (Campbell et
al., 1964). A candidate’s party is given the first consideration while issue positions and a
candidates personal characteristics are relegated to a second position. From this perspective a
candidate’s party is the most important schema because it affects people’s impressions of
candidate’s. However, although people rely on schemas of party issues, almost all of the
information available to voters during an election can be used in evaluating candidates.
Candidates are important in determining how much voters like or dislike a candidate based on
candidate’s competence, integrity, reliability, charisma and personal characteristics (Rahn et
al., 1990). i.
Lau and Redlawsks (2006) summarized information processing patterns into four
models of decision making . ii.
The rational choice model assume that self-interest determine a voter choice by
carefully evaluating all the information.
iii.
The confirmatory decision making model is an early socialization and cognitive
consistency model which stipulates that people start with the identification of a
candidates party and then passively acquire short-term information; iv.
The fast and frugal decisions making model states that people look for specific bits of
information about matters of importance to them, and ignore everything else
v.
The semiautomatic intuitive decision making model, is a bounded rationality model in
which people only get as much information as they need to make a voting decision
and no more.
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Lau and Redlawsk (2006) further explain that when a voter experiences conflict between
his or her preferences on one issue and a preference on another issue they can use one of
two decision strategies. a)
Compensatory strategy which involves the careful assignment of positive or
negative values to each other position. The voter then engages in an assessment of
the tradeoffs involved and resolves the conflict with a choice. b)
Non-compensatory strategy basically avoids the conflict by not getting complete
information.
Lau and Redlawsk (2006) add additional variables important in voter decision making
such as political sophistication, campaign dynamics, and memory and candidate
evaluation.
6.4 ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN VOTING
We now focus on emotions. You may have observed that in most cases people do not
simply respond to candidates positively or negatively but with specific emotions. The
positive or negative feelings toward candidates then influence how people vote. Two
emotions that are central in responses to political events and candidates are : fear (or
anxiety) and enthusiasm. Fear appeals provoke voters to seek for new information about
candidates and reexamine their current choices. When people do not experience fear or
anxiety they incline on habit in determining how they will vote. Thus anxiety regulate
information processing and motivates learning. Affective intelligence theory suggest that
anxious citizens may be more discerning than their angry counterparts because they take
steps to inform themselves about candidates before voting (Antonius,2013).Enthusiasm
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on the other hand motivate voters to get involved and act on existing loyalties and
choices. 6.5 ROLE OF MEDIA Do you think that media has any role in shaping public opinion and voting process? If so
how? Many people rely on media to get information related to politics. Therefore media
plays a great role in shaping peoples decision concerning political issues and voting.
Modern study on the role of media focus on use of agenda setting, framing and priming .
6.5.1 Agenda setting
. Agenda setting entails telling the voters what issues need attention and in what form.
Issues that are emphasized and discussed in the media are likely to be considered
important by voters and stick in their minds
. The policy makers on the other hand can set
the agenda by informing the news agencies on what to cover. A good example is George
Bush administration’s successful presentation of the case for war in Iraq in 2003.Using
justification that Saddam Hussein allegedly possesses weapons of mass destruction. On
September 8,2003, the conservative journalist Judith Miller and her fellow New York
Times colleague Michael Gordon reported a story claiming that the Iraq regime had tried
to acquire a number of ‘aluminum tubes from Africa . The tubes were claimed to be only
suitable for use in the production of atomic weapon.
In a democracy, one of the most important times in which the media may influence public
opinion is during campaigns. Media report on the candidates, issues, and campaigns as
an independent observer. The media also cover candidate debates. Candidates on the other
hand use the media as part of their campaign strategy to deliver their campaign message.
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6.5.2 Media framing
These are mental heuristics which simplify issues which would have otherwise been
confusing or overwhelming by making them comprehensible. This is done by making a
psychological interpretation which locate smaller events within a bigger picture frame.
Imagine of a picture frame which encloses a photograph. Framing refers to the process by
which people develop a particular conceptualization of an issue (Houghton, 2004).
6.5.3 Media priming
Political issues are usually many and complex for ordinary people to comprehend and
decide which are important and which aspects of them need to be attended to. The news
media guide their audience in pointing out which elements of these issues are important.
This is called priming. Media determine which issues come to the forefront. For example
in case of a presidential candidate if the media pays attention to the unemployment and
people think about this issue, then unemployment will possibly become a consideration
when evaluating presidential performance. Psychological basis of priming is the selective
attention of public. Through priming voters are able to make judgement by focusing on
some issues while ignoring others. 6.5.4 Media Spinning
Another important aspect regarding issue framing and what the media focuses on,
concerns the presentation of an issue or what is often referred to as “spin”. How an issue
is reported can make a difference. Most political issues have multiple elements, but the
media may focus on only one or two. Those elements then receive attention and the
resulting debate regarding moral and /or policy implications, revolves around those
elements, rather than others.
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Patterson (1993) notes that journalists operate with different schemas than those used by
voters which in turn produces a particular pattern in framing issues and candidates during
campaigns. In particular he argues journalists dominant schema is structured around the
notion that politics is a strategic game rather than competing ideas about issues
appropriate, policies and matters of principle. The public on the other hand functions with
schema that views politics as an arena in which policies are discussed and in which
leaders are selected who will attempt to implement particular policies. These game and
governance schemas interact and voters and journalists have cognizance of each other’s
perspective. But Patterson (1993) argues that because of the press game schema the focus
of the news buries and distorts the substance of the information conveyed to the public
during a campaign.
The impact of media is strongest on those who have little independent interests in politics,
who are weakly attached to a party and who are less educated (Lyengar and Kinder,
1987). In addition personal involvement with an issue affects its salience and therefore
people for whom an issue is personally salient will attend to that issue regardless of the
amount of media coverage. For example unemployed people will attend to media stories
about employment more than those who are employed. A key question emanating from
this discussion is whether the media also influence how people think the same way it
influences what people think about. The media has a strong influence on the issues the
public views as important because repeated coverage of certain issues become priorities
for the viewers and can affect the evaluation of candidates. P
eople attend to information
in the media that supported their preferences. Moreover other factors such as family and
friends, selective perceptions, social processes which filter the receipt of news and a test
of reality in terms of direct experiences, social networks, background information and
psychological condition( Alotaibi,2013).
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6.6 SUMMARY
In this lecture I have discussed the psychological factors that influence how people decide
how to vote. The discussion has focused on how people processing information using mental
shortcuts, heuristics and attitudes and the role of media though agenda setting, priming and
framing. 6.7 NOTE Media exerts central influence in forming images in the minds of voters. However its
influence is not sufficient because the perception of information from media is affected by
many factors.
6.8 ACTIVITIES
Make a follow –up of political news in the local media in the next one week. Identify one
political issue and note down in your note book how the media will apply this concepts:
agenda setting, media framing and priming
6.9 FURTHER READING
Houghton,D.P. (2014) Political psychology: situations, individuals and cases. Routledge
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6.10 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Describe how the following influence how people vote:
a.
Attitudes
b.
Schemas
c.
Heuristics
2.
Discuss four models of decision making commonly found in the political science
literature: POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF NATIONALISM
LECTURE SEVEN
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this lecture is to enrich your understanding of nationalism from a
psychological perspective. I will start by explaining what nationalism is, followed by the
features and governance in nation-states. You will then learn about nationalism in non-nation
states and finally psychological causes of nationalism. 7.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
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By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
1.
Explain the term nationalism.
2.
Describe the defining features of behaviours of nationalists in nation-states.
3.
Describe how nationalism is manifested in non-nation states
4.
Explain the causes of nationalism from a psychological perspective. 7.3 DEFINITION AND PATTERNS OF NATIONALISTIC BEHAVIOUR
The concept of nationalism is similar to that of social identity which you learnt earlier in
lecture two .
People identify with a group or an organization which makes them feel good and
from which they derive
a positive sense of self-esteem. Nationalism is a more complex form
of patriotism which is commitment or a readiness to sacrifice for the nation. It entails a
conviction that one’s own people has a special mission ,that is a chosen people and that it is
exclusive (Kecmanovic,2013).Nationalists give primary loyalty to their perceived nation
which can be considered as a political identity in-group .and asks fellow nationals to be more
proud of being members of a particular nation than of being humans . Nationalists are strongly attached to their nation and are committed to the unity,
independence, dignity and well-being of the nation itself. Driven by this spirit, nationalism
emerged first in Europe with the development of the modern states, following the French
revolution. African nationalism was motivated by the desire of Africans to end all forms of
foreign control and influence, to enable Africans take charge of their political, social and
economic affairs .This desire was expressed mainly by those Africans who were conscious of
their nationhood..
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Nationalism has also been considered to be one of the most dangerous sources of political
behaviour in the 20
th
century. German nationalism is blamed for World War 2 and it certainly
played a major role in causing that conflict. The nationalisms of various communities in
Yugoslavia tore that country apart in the 1990’s. Conflict between the USA and its Latin
American neighbours often rests upon nationalistic indignation by one at the behaviour of the
other. Let me now introduce you to the concept of a nation. A nation is a community of people who
feel they belong together in the sense that they share deeply significant elements of a
common heritage and that they have a common destiny for the future. A nation-state exists
when the average citizens of a country is a nationalist. For example people can call
themselves Kenyans and see themselves as a part of that nation of people. Several patterns of
behaviour occur in nation-states and by nationalists in nation -states. a)
Nationalists tend to be more sensitive than non-nationalists to threats to the
nation-states. The image through which they view the threat is extreme. They
react strongly when their sense of positive social identity is threatened. b)
Nationalists, particularly nationalistic leaders are very sensitive to opportunities to
advance their countries influence and are more likely than non-nationalists to
seriously consider the option to expand state influence at the expense of others.
c)
There will be greater tendency among the public of nation-states to be deeply
concerned with the objective of gathering together communities existing outside
the borders of the state that they regard as part of their nation state also known as
diaspora. Generally nationalists desire a territorial state for their people and they
want all of the community to live in that state. This is referred to as irredentism.
Irredentism was an important factor in Bismarck’s wars for German national
unification in the late 19
th
century
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d)
Nationalists are more concerned with their countries prestige and dignity than
are non-nationalists and are more willing to take action to rectify perceived
insults.
e)
There is more likelihood that the public of a nation-state will be susceptible to
grandeur interests and will therefore want to see national prestige and status
enhanced and recognized globally. f)
Leaders of nation-states compared to non-nation states are better able to make
effective appeals to citizens to make great sacrifices to enhance the power of the
state. g)
The public is more willing to serve in the military and have a more intense
commitment to the defence of their state, h)
The citizens of a nation-state are more likely to grant leaders considerable
freedom to take risks in defending the nations’ interests. However leaders who fail
will be punished by nationalistic people. Citizens do not grant those leaders the
freedom to accept defeats or the loss.
Governance in Nation-States
. All governments have certain tools to keep their populations stable and supportive.
First they must satisfy the utilitarian needs of the population through a functioning
economy and political system.
Use coercive instruments such as the police and the military which d to keep order,
prevent instability and if necessary force the society to comply with the government’s
decisions. .
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Use nationalistic symbols to arouse passionate feelings of devotion to the nation, such
as the flag, historic events or the idea of the motherland or fatherland. Nationalistic
symbols can be powerful motivators of pro-nation behaviour.
7.4 NATIONALISM IN NON-NATION STATES
I will discuss two types of non-nation states: multinational and core community states.
Multinational states
Multinational states are states in which several groups of people who think of themselves as
separate nations and have the capacity to establish viable independent states live together in a
single country. They do not see the populations of the country as their primary identity group.
Instead their primary identity group is the nationality they belong to. Examples include the
Russians and Ukrainians who lived in the Soviet Union. In these cases, no nation completely
controls its own destiny and no nation has its own independent state. The dynamics of
nationalism are likely to be directed towards striving for independence.
Core community non-nation state
These are countries with a dominant ethnic or sectarian community who believe that they are
the primary nation embodied in the country and who identify with that nation in the strongest
terms. The community tends to be politically dominant controlling the political system.
However also present within the territorial state are other communities which give primary
loyalty to their ethnic groups. These secondary groups desire for autonomy or independent
statehood, but they do not have sufficient resources to sustain it. A good example is Russia.
Russians are clearly the dominant group, and Russians tend to be quite nationalistic. Yet there
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are many other ethnic groups living in Russia who speak Russian and are part of the country’s
political system, who have a different ethnic identity.
In many cases the core community advocates the integration and assimilation of the other
groups, encouraging the minorities to speak the dominant groups’ language, abandon their
customs, identify with the country as a whole, and perhaps intermarry. Minority group can
use social mobility as an option and assimilate into the core community. 7.5 PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES OF NATIONALISTIC BEHAVIOUR
Social identity theory notes that people need to belong to groups and ideally they see their
groups (in groups) as better than other groups (out-groups). Nations are groups and for
nationalists, are a deeply important in- groups. Central to in- group -out-group relations is the
concept of social categorization. Members of a group see themselves as similar, sharing
common attributes and this group identification inspires behaviour that is consistent with the
norms of the group. Members of a group tend to emphasize their positive attributes when they compare their in
-groups to relevant out groups. Have you ever compared yourself with another person? Was
the comparison positive or negative and what was the implication on your self - perception?
This happens to groups as well. When engaging in social comparison, the self- esteem of
group members is enhanced when that comparison is positive for the in group but if the
comparison is negative, this can be unsatisfactory to the group members. The result is that
they can switch to a new group or they can engage in social creativity strategies which
change the comparison process itself, so that people find a positive basis for comparison to
replace a negative one or they can engage in competition.
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The important thing to remember about nationalists is that the first option is out; they are
committed to their nation as a group. The second and third options are acceptable, but the
potential to engage in the third option (competition with other countries or nationalities
within a single country) is high when they perceive a threat to the nation or an opportunity to
achieve some important goal. Members of a nation-state in-group will perceive themselves
better than their social comparison groups. They are highly cohesive and very willing to
sacrifice for the nation. They are also more likely to be sensitive to things such as insults,
frustrations and aggressive behaviour by out-groups (Cottam and Cottam, 2001 Searle white,
2001). Nationalism involves very strong positive emotions associated with the nation and also a
tendency for heightened negative emotions associated with the out group. If the nation is
considered an in group a range of positive emotions are associated with the nation such as
pride in the achievements of one’s group such as economic development and growth or in
international athletics competitions or happiness when an opportunity to achieve an important
goal occurs. These emotions are associated with politics. Sometimes conflict is a result of
engaging in social comparison competition and attached negative emotions.
On the other hand as argued by Kecmanovic (1996) and Searle-white (2001) in terms of
affective properties, nationalistic behaviour resembles crowd behaviour in that there is low
tolerance for differing views; oversimplification, diminished personal responsibility, a
reluctance to consider alternative views; a readiness to act out, a sense of being endowed with
unrivalled power which makes people less critically minded, intensified emotional reactions
and feelings of persecution.
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Group factors such as group loyalty and obedience enhance conformity to the in- groups
position towards the out-group. Nationalism arouses tremendous internal and social pressures
on people to conform failure to which one either faces isolation and condemnation. In relation to other countries, the response of nationalists depend upon the image held. You do
remember the various types of political images held by states about other state such enemy
image, imperial image, rogue image and so on. Nationalists will confront an enemy with
different tactics than a barbarian or an imperialist for example. The emotions attached to the
image will be supercharged among nationalist because they are so intensely attached to the
nation. 7.6 SUMMARY
.
In this lecture I have covered the psychology of nationalism. The term nationalism has been
explained followed by the patterns of nationalistic behaviour and governance in nation states.
Lastly nationalism in non-nation states and psychological causes of nationalism has been
discussed. 7.7 NOTE Though nationalism can be positive in cases where people want to liberate themselves rom
oppression it can also result to major conflicts among ethnic groups ripping the existing
nation apart.
7.8 ACTIVITIES
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Take a moment to reflect on modern African nationalism. Take your note book and describe
using examples how the social identity theory is relevant.
7.9 FURTHER READING
Cottam,M., & Cottam,R. (2001) Nationalism and politics: The political behaviour of nation
states.
Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
7.10 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Define the term nationalism.
2.
Differentiate nation-states from non-nation states
3.
Describe the defining features of nationalists behavior in nation -states.
4.
Explain how nationalism occurs in non-nation states
5.
Discuss the psychological causes of nationalistic behavior
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PSYCOLOGY OF RACISM, ETHNOCENTRISM AND POLITICAL INTOLERANCE
LECTURE EIGHT
8.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture you are going to learn about the psychology of racism ethnocentrism and
political tolerance. We shall start by explaining the concept of ethnicity and multi-ethnic
groups followed by the concept of race and racism. Theoretical perspectives of racism and
ethnocentrism will be discussed and finally the psychological consequences of racism and
ethnicity.
8.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lecture you should be able to :
1.
Differentiate the following terms:
a)
Ethnicity and ethno centrism
b)
Stereotype and prejudice
c)
Discrimination and racism
2.
Describe the causes of racism and ethnocentrism
3.
Explain the psychological consequences of racism and ethnocentrism on the victims
8.3 ETHNICITY
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Before discussing ethnocentrism, let me introduce you to ethnicity .Ethnicity is used to refer
to a state of belonging to a social group, sharing similar cultural factors such as nationality,
religion, culture, ancestry, and language. These feature to define each ethnicity’s unique
cultural identity. An example of ethnicity is German or Spanish ancestry (regardless of race).
Ethnic groups can be broadly or narrowly construed for example Indians may be considered
to be one ethnic group but there are actually dozens of cultural traditions and subgroups like
Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Tamil that are also bona fide ethnic groups. In Great Britain
citizens may be considered British or more specifically English, Scottish or Welsh.
The states
which has
people belonging to more than one ethnic group are referred to as multi-ethnic
societies.
Six criteria must be met for a group to be called an ethnic community according to Brown,
(1993)
A group must have a name for itself for a collective identity
The people in the group must believe in a common ancestry
Members must share historical memories, often myths or legends passed from
generation to generation by word of mouth.
Group must have a shared culture, f language, laws, customs, institutions, dress,
music, crafts, architecture even death.
The group must feel an attachment to a specific piece of territory which may or may
not actually inhabit.
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The people in a group have to think of themselves as a group in order to constitute an
ethnic community that is they must have a sense of their common ethnicity
8.4 MULTI ETHNIC OR MULTI SECTARIAN STATES
In these states, there are at least two ethnic groups, neither of which is capable of assimilating
or absorbing the other or of seceding and maintaining independence. They are ethnic groups
that cannot realistically establish independent countries. People in multi ethnic countries give
primary loyalty to their ethnic or sectarian group rather than to the boarder community living
in the country. Frequently they realize that they do not have the resources to form their own
state, but they may strive for the maximum autonomy possible and/or a large share of
political and economic in the state they share with other ethnic groups
Often members of the groups in multi ethnic states maintain separate, geographically
concentrated communities but there are many instances in which ethnic group members are
dispersed across the country. Many of the multi ethnic states found today are former
colonies .As a result of colonialism the ethnic groups found themselves part of a state
structure created by and imposed upon by the colonial power .In many cases, dominant ethnic
groups within these colonial states took on the role as local elite, by serving the interest of
the colonial power. Their political behaviours reflect their concern with matters such as the
security, autonomy and welfare of their ethnic group rather than those of the country as
whole. Several structure are employed in order to accommodate different ethnic group’s
concern.
a)
Consociationalism
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Consociatianalism refers to power sharing. Political parties representing the ethnic
groups form coalition government through proportional representation. Each group is
afforded a degree of autonomy over the matter considered important to them. Rules
are implemented to govern the public sector and there are constitutional vetoes for
minority groups. A good example of its application is Switzerland with its strong
German, French and Italian ethnic groups b) Federalism
Federalism involves separation between a central governments and regional
government, each having different spheres of influence. There is a governing
constitutional and bicameral legislature which must give their approval in
constitutional matters. Although as a general rule, in the legislatures smaller parties
are overrepresented, there is no guarantee that they will completely solve issues in the
multi-ethnic states.
Ethnocentrism
While ethnicity in itself is not harmful and is considered a natural tendency of human
psychology, ethnocentrism which emanates from it has negative implications. Ethnocentrism
refers to judging another culture exclusively by the values and standards of one's own culture
especially in relation to language, behaviour, customs, and religion. William Graham Summer (1906) described it as “the view of things in which one’s own
group is the centre of everything…………….and look with contempt on outsiders.
Ethnocentrism has an enormous impact upon group relations within countries leading to
ethnic conflict, political instability, violence and war. It has resulted to atrocities being
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committed by one group against another in countries such as Rwanda, Bosnia, Democratic
Republic of Cong, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and East Timor 8.5 RACISM
Racism comes from the word race which denotes a person's physical characteristics, such as
the colour of the skin, hair, or eye and bone structure. You can give brown, white, or black
skin as examples of races all from various parts of the world. Race categories are used for
distinguishing different human groups on basis of physical appearance. Skin colour is the
most frequently used in this classification but other ways such as blood type, hair, eyes, noses
and other facial features or DNA are used.(Reilly,Kautman and Bodino,2003) According to Agnew, (2007) race like other social aspects of identity such as gender,
sexuality and able-bodiedness is socially constructed by oppressive relations in specific
historical situations. In this case it is seen to be a product of conquests, colonization and
imperialism in various parts of the world. For instance Asian immigrants were excluded from
citizenship rights by being denied the right to vote in British Columbia in 1871, resulting in
their exclusion from certain occupations such as pharmacy, law and political office.
(Anderson, 1991). Racism as an ideology attempts to justify racial inequalities in society through notions of the
innate inferiority and superiority of different races. (Rateke and Duncan, 2003). This has led
to the belief that another person is less than human because of skin colour, language,
customs, and place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that
person. This has led to hatred of one person by another and influenced wars, slavery, the
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formation of nations, and legal codes. However, racism is not just about racist beliefs but
includes the power to act on such beliefs. It requires the
support of political or economic
power. Many people often use the terms racism, stereotype, prejudice and discrimination
interchangeably .But it is important to differentiate these terms. Stereotype
s
are
oversimplified ideas about groups of people while prejudice refers to thoughts and feelings
about those groups. Stereotypes can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual
orientation or on almost any characteristic. They may be positive usually about one’s own
group, but are often negative usually toward other groups that are considered as outgroups. In
either case, the stereotype is a generalization that doesn’t take individual differences into
account. Prejudice simply refers to biased thinking. .
Prejudice is closely associated with a set of
beliefs about the personal attributes of a group of people. Racism is a type of prejudice that is
used to justify the belief that one racial category is somehow superior or inferior. Racial
prejudice is a
source of racism Sniderman, Plazza and Harvey (1998) note four component of prejudice
1.
A response to a group and its members based on their membership to the group
2.
A negative evaluative orientation toward a group and consequently an aversion to the
group members
3.
An attribution of negative characteristics towards a group and its members 4.
Consistency in the negative orientation towards the group members based on their
membership in the group
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Stereotype and prejudice produce discriminatory behaviours that are filled with negative
evaluations of the group and its members. The evaluation however is not perceived as a
judgment about the group itself a situation known as the phenomenal absolutism error.
Discrimination can be based on age, religion, health, and other indicators. Discrimination
based on race or ethnicity can take many forms, from unfair housing practices to biased
hiring systems. It can be manifested through individual discrimination or institutional
discrimination also known as institutional racism. In individual discrimination , individuals
act as executive agents of institutionalized racism and ethnocentrism (Rateke and Duncan,
2003). Institutional discrimination occurs when racial distinctions are used to organize the
policy and practice of state, judicial, economic, and educational institutions. For instance in
Canada the Canadian immigration policies imposed “head taxes” on Chinese immigrants in
1886 and 1904. Consequently this results to systematic inequalities along racial line. 8.6 POLITICAL INTOLERANCE
Political intolerance overlaps with psychological constructs of prejudice, stereotypes and
discrimination of different races or ethnicity (Goleblowska, 2014). Group differentiations in
term of race, are often associated with political inequalities and political intolerance. Political
intolerance is unwillingness to allow political opponents to express various democratic rights
and freedoms. John Sullivan and colleagues (1981) found the bases of political tolerance in
two factors. The level of perceived threat and the commitment to general norms. Political intolerance can be associated with various psychological factors. Personality traits
such as self-centeredness, low self-esteem, authoritarian personality, mistrust, pessimism and
dogmatism, psychological insecurity, perceived threat and political ideology related to
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commitment to democratic institutions. Dogmatism is the best predictor of intolerance
because close-mindedness make people to be more intolerant. Dogmatic people tend to also
dichotomize beliefs into strict categories of acceptance and rejection and are quite hostile to
beliefs that differ from their own or threaten them
8.7 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF RACISM AND ETHNOCENTRISM
Biological Theories
This is a victim-blaming approach .Biological theories attribute cause of racism and
ethnocentrism to genetic factors such as biological inferiority of a group and innate dislike for
an outgroup. Biological inferiority perspective places the blame on the victim. Ethnic
prejudice is said to exist because the ethnic group being prejudiced against is biologically
inferior. Thus racial prejudice is a natural reaction toward the actual inferiority of the
prejudiced group.
Realistic conflict theory.
Racial conflict and ethnocentrism is seen to be a result of competition over scare resources
such as land, jobs, housing and good schools. Whenever such commodities are in short
supply the demand for them increases .As competition becomes more severe those involved
tend to view the other in increasingly negative terms. Members of groups tend to solidify
boundaries that exist between them, derogate the other group, and believe that their own
group is superior. Frustration -Aggression Theory
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Racial prejudice is viewed to result from transferred aggression caused by frustration. It is
perceived as an outcome of scapegoating a weaker group by a stronger group. Prejudice
serve as a safe outlet of displaced aggression. It help maintain and enhance self-esteem.
However this theory has been criticised in that frustration may not necessarily cause
aggression because humans are capable of tolerating high levels of frustration. Second,
frustration is not the most important nor the only cause of aggression and finally, scape goat
is sometimes directed at the real source of frustration and finally the theory does not explain
why one scape group is chosen over another one.
Social learning theory.
Social learning theory implies that racism and ethnocentric beliefs and behaviours are
acquired through observational learning. Individual attitudes towards particular racial groups
are determined by the attitudes of their parents, as well as by their childhood experiences with
members of minority groups. Children learn negative attitudes and discriminatory behaviours
from their parents, teachers, family, friends and others .They are further enhanced through
rewards in the form of praise, agreement, love and acceptance. Since children have a strong
need to be accepted and loved by those who are important to them , they readily adopt the
attitudes valued by those important to them to be loved and accepted. Social norms (rules governing appropriate and acceptable behaviour) are also a powerful
mechanism for learning prejudice. Most people choose to conform to their own group’s norm.
The media also play a strong role in shaping our attitudes toward members of racial groups.
When minority group members are portrayed (on television, in movies, in commercial) in
stereotypical ways, media consumers tend to adopt those stereotypical prejudiced attitudes
Cognitive Theory
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Though the human social world is complex, human beings are limited in the ability to process
information Hence they tend to oversimplify the available information about ethnic groups
resulting in biased judgement. Categorization is the main cognitive process leading to ethnic
prejudice. It results to classifying people based on their shared characteristics. This help avoid
information overload by organizing enormous information. However categorization without
sufficient information often causes simplification and biases resulting to prejudice. Hostile
attitudes toward the outgroup, intergroup competition, personal gains may not be prerequisite
for categorization. Cognitive theory therefore indicates that people with prejudice are normal
people with normal mental capacity. They become prejudiced due to the lack of information
and/or ability to categorize voluminous information.
Social Identity Theory.
Social identity studies have found that prejudice and stereotyping among groups occurs even
in the absence of conflicting goals. Social categorization and social identity are partially
responsible for the initial proceeds of group differentiation into in- groups and out groups.
This is accompanied with the perception of superiority of the in groups. Psychologists have
found that people remember negative behaviours of out- group for better than positive
behaviour and remember positive behaviour of the in-group for better than the negative
groups .Social categorization produces a basic motivation for intergroup social competition as
people strive for positive social identity. This eventually leads to perceptual biases and
discriminatory behavioural pattern as people strive to view their in-group in a positive light,
compared to out-group’s. This explanation helps us understand general ethnocentrism Personality Traits Theory
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Racism and ethnocentrism can be linked to a definite personality type (Rateke and Duncan,
2003). Adornal and his colleagues conceived the idea that there is a specific personality type
that is predisposed to racial prejudice. As you recall from lecture three
authoritarian
personality has nine traits however the three central characteristics of authoritarian
personality related to ethnocentrism and racism. These are: authoritarian submission (to
authority),aggression (against non-conformist groups) and conventionalism (blind acceptance
of social norms)
Adornal and colleagues stress that authoritarian syndrome does not necessarily lead to
prejudice, however it predisposes one to racism. Authoritarian personality can be traced to an
individual’s early childhood experiences .Early rigid patterns of parental discipline led to
hostility feelings towards the parents and because the society discourages the expression of
negative feelings towards authority figures, children repress the inner feelings and opt to
obeying their parents and other figures of authority. Since negative feelings cannot be
repressed forever, children eventually seek out safe targets to direct their hostility and in this
case the out group becomes the targets of hostility transformed into racial prejudice and
racism.
Social Dominance Theory
Social dominance orientation (personality dimensions) concerns the degree to which a person
favours an unequal, hierarchical dominance-oriented relationship among groups. There are
three broad hierarchies in societies (a)
Gender (males dominate females)
(b)
Age (adult rule)
(c)
Socially constructed groups differentiated in terms of race, ethnicity, class, clan or
nationality.
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Ideologies and political values held legitimize the social hierarchy. Those who support and
promote such ideologies are those are at the top of the group hierarchy. They use their
dominance to perpetuate ideas and institutions that maintain their dominance through social
and political structures. To ensure that these systems of hierarchy survive, governments use
coercion, when necessary, to defeat challenges. On the other hand subordinate people accept
inferiority because they are socialized to do so. 8.8 PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF RACISM AND ETHNOCENTRISM
Racism can have profound destruction on the psychological well-being of the racially
oppressed and marginalized groups. Internalisation of the dominant group’s racism can lead
to the prejudiced people becoming accomplices in their own suppression. Internalization can
result in intense intra-psychic distress which can lead to attempts to defend themselves by
turning the distress inward against themselves and their communities instead of directing it to
the source of distress.
Victimization of racism often results in psychological double-binds. The individual in this
case is faced with limited, mutually contradictory emotional response options with each
precipitating negative consequences. When confronted with incidents of racism, social
pressures demand that they are agreeable .This creates an impression on the dominant people
that they are docile and subservient in their own oppression. On the other hand this is a
situation they would want to avoid, however not being agreeable exposes them to being
labelled as angry, aggressive and dangerous .This confirms the highly held impression by the
dominant group that they are a difficult group and threat to social stability.
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Psychological double-binds can eventually result to a killing rage; an accumulated repressed
anger that builds up in the individual as a result of repeatedly being subjected to racist abuse.
This rage can be turned inward against safe targets such as other victims of racism or towards
members of dominant group.
Consequences however do not affect people in a uniform manner. For instance those labelled
by the South African apartheid government as Coloured, Indian, Asian and Africans
experienced racism differently. Though the Indians /Asians and coloured were worse off than
Whites they had access to many more economic, social and political privileges than Africans.
On the other hand, socio-economic status mediate how racism impacts on the Africans
.Middle and upper-income blacks are affected differently than lower-income or indigenous
blacks . Middle and upper-income also are able to access various support such as counselling,
professional networks and legal resources which assist them in dealing with the effects of
racism. The general agreement however is that, racism and ethnocentrism are harmful to the
psychological well-being of the victims. It is important therefore for interventions to be
devised to deal with them in all their manifestations.
8.9 SUMMARY
In this lecture you have learnt about the psychology of racism and ethnocentrism.
The
concepts of ethnicity, race, prejudice and discrimination has been discussed. I have also
explored the psychological perspectives of racism and ethnocentrism with the aim of
explaining their causes and finally their effects on victims have been discussed.
8.10 NOTE
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Ethnicity as a state and belonging to a certain race is not bad however it becomes a detriment
when the dominant group perceive the subordinate group to be inferior.
8.11 ACTIVITIES
Take a few minutes to reflect on your own ethnicity .Explain in what circumstances it is
significant.
Reflect on what you have learnt about racism. Write down in your note book ways in which
racism manifest itself in contemporary society. 8.12 FURTHER READING
Miville,M.L.& Ferguson,A.D.(2014) Handbook of race-ethnicity and gender in psychology.
New York: Springer science & business media 8.13 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Differentiate between ethnicity and racism
2.
Explain the characteristics of multi-ethnic states
3.
Describe how stereotypes and prejudice contribute to development of racism
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4.
Using the various theoretical perspectives explain the causes of racism and ethnicity.
5.
Explain the psychological consequences of racism on the minority groups
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND CONFLICT LECTURE NINE
9.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lecture you learnt about ethnicity, ethnocentrism and racism and how they
cause conflicts among various groups. In this lecture I will discuss causes of ethnic conflicts,
perpetrators of violent wars, development of genocide and terrorism. 9.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
1.
Explain the causes of ethnic conflicts from a psychological perspective
2.
Describe the development of genocide from ethnic conflicts.
3.
Discuss the factors that motivate individuals and groups to turn to terrorism
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4.
Describe various ways used by terrorists in recruiting members 9.3 CAUSES OF ETHNIC CONFLICTS
As you are aware war is humanity’s most inhumane and destructive endeavor destroying
lives, property, environment, hopes and dreams of individuals and states. Some of the
conflicts involve little or no violence. Others involve full-scale military hostilities and
horrifying levels of savagery. Many ethnic conflicts starts out as domestic disputes and may
become interstate conflicts if outside powers become involved. In some instances, trouble
may spill over into neighboring countries and other times neighboring countries may
intervene to protect the interests of their ethnic brethren’s. Other disinterested states may
intervene on humanitarian grounds to protect innocent civilians.
Conflicts ,violence and wars usually erupt when relationships among parties or states have
gone wrong.
. Dispute can be as a result of political, economic, social, cultural or territorial
issues between two or more ethnic communities
.
(Brown,1993). Hintjen and Zarkov (2015)
suggest that the basic causes of unresolved conflicts are incompatible goals rather than
incompatible parties.
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Do you recall realistic conflict theory and social identity theory learnt earlier? You also
probably recall that they cause ethnic and racial conflicts In this context as well, competition
for scarce resources as explained in realistic conflict theory and the need to protect a group’s
identity leads to violence. In bad times competition for resources and power can be fierce.
Conflicts easily erupt when an opportunity or threat is perceived by one ethnic group
regarding another and when at least one group is mobilized often by political leaders to
challenge the perceived threat or opportunity. Social identity results in social comparison between an in group and an out group. Unequal
social comparison implies that an out group has an unfair advantage and that the relationship
among the groups is considered to be unfair. This negative outcome motivates groups to
change their status and one way of doing this is through social competition .Subordinate
group engages in direct competition with the dominant group. The group in the dominant
position then feel threatened by the challenge to its status leading to a conflict. Conflict can
also be caused by the mere presence of different groups. The notion of in-group and out-group is attached with very strong emotions
.
People
experience increased love and attachment to their own ethnic group while stereo typing the
outgroup..
Emotions emanating from ethnic out-group stereotypes are often extremely
powerful and can change from simmering bitterness and resentment to rage and hatred
toward other ethnic groups. On the other hand
political leaders play an important role in
sharpening perceptions of ethnic identity and in furthering conflict by thwarting diplomatic
solutions. They actively manipulate the stereotypes and emotions in order to mobilize their
ethnic brethren against other ethnic groups. They use them to arouse intense feelings of
hatred, anger and aggression toward other ethnic groups. This will likely motivate people to
want to fight.
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The evolutionary psychology perspective on human behavior also explains that conflicts is
driven by a set of universal reasoning circuits that were designed by natural selection to solve
adaptive problems faced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Through these mechanisms people
were able to adapt to changes in their environment over time including changes in
communication, warfare capabilities and economic production. The result was competition
among groups for resources and other essentials of survival. Some groups won and others lost
and in the long run as Waller (2002) argues all of us today owe our existence to having
ancestors as winners and each of us today is designed at least in some circumstances to
compete. Inability to compete is a recipe for extinction of the group. This theory also
explains in-group solidarity, co-operation and altruism are as a result of evolutionary need for
adaptation. 9.4 THE PERPETRATORS OF VIOLENCE
In most cases there is always an individual or a group of individuals who actualizes the
violence. This is usually an extremist or a person who is excessively and inappropriately
enthusiastic and /or inappropriately concerned with significant life purposes, implying a
focused and highly personalized interpretation of the world (Taylor, 1991). Politically,
extremism is a behavior that is strongly controlled by ideology where the influence of
ideology excludes other social, political or personal forces that might be expected to control
and influence behavior (Taylor 1991). They tend to disregard the views of others and
alternatives.
Why do you think that some people will opt to become extremists? Factors that drive
extremism spirit are varied ranging from mental illness to personality attributes. At the basic
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level we all have the capacity to commit evil if you recall the original sin view that states that
we are born basically evil, the capacity of committing evil is thus universal. Lack of empathy
for others make people dehumanize their victims.
Other factors associated with extremism include education levels whereby it is assumed that
people with more education will tend to resist authority, locus of control dimensions with
internally controlled people or those who believe they have considerable control over their
fate perceived more likely to resist authority than external people who believe the external
environment determines strongly what happens to them.
Social identity theory emphasize importance of belonging to groups and seeing those groups
positively in comparison to others .In conditions of severe socio economic and political
despair and depression the environment is often conducive to the identification of one group
as a scapegoat, a group that is blamed for all of society’s illnesses. Social justification occurs
where in that group poor treatment is justified. The scape goat is dehumanized and seen as
less than human therefore deserving a treatment one would not administer to a human being.
For instance in German, during Hitler era Jews were regularly vilified and called rats. In
Rwanda before genocide the Tutsi were called insects and cockroaches by the Hutu
extremists. In those conditions hating the enemy becomes a noble and righteous cause in the
minds of group members. 9.5 FROM ETHNIC CONFLICTS TO GENOCIDE
Genocide is the deliberate and systemic destruction in whole or in part of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group. Genocide acts may involve killings, mass deportations,
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withholding of food and/other necessities of life, instigators of violence, death by invasive infectious disease agents or combination of these
The United Nations define genocide as acts committed with the intent to destroy in part or in
whole a nation, ethnic, racial or religious groups. Stalib (2000) objects this definition on
several grounds. First it does not include political groups as specific possible targets of
genocide and Secondly, it clusters together killing the group in whole and in part as acts of
genocide though to him killing in part is mass killing. Mass killing may kill many people as
genocide does, but genocide as an act is designed to eliminate the group from the face of the
earth.
Genocide is a result of an intense feelings of frustration and threat produced by a combination
of many psychological factors such as social identity factors, stereotyping and group loyalty
usually operating in the context of extremely difficult social economic and political
circumstances. Status (1998) explains that powerful self-protective motives give rise the
motive to defend the physical self (one’s life and safety) and the motive to defend the
psychological self (ones self-concept, values and ways of life). There is also a need to elevate
a diminished self.
If an enemy is not readily identified as the cause of the condition, one is created as a
scapegoat The perception of victimization give rise to intense emotions including shame,
anger, humiliation and hatred for the victimizer. The Nazi perpetrators had a strong sense of
victimization. The more cohesive a group is, the most likely the potential, particularly when it
is accompanied by a sense of superiority. This is especially evident when nationalism is
strong in a country.
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Strong respect for authority and strong inclination for obedience are some of the predisposing
characteristics for mass killing and genocide. Such characteristics make it more likely that
personal responsibility will be relinquished and leaders will be followed without question.
People will respond positively to a small request and then become much more likely to
respond positively to subsequent requests.
Genocides are also facilitated by organizations which impose norms and group loyalties so
that those individuals who do not like the tasks they are supposed to fulfill will be made to
feel guilty for not adhering to the groups norms and for not carrying out their fair share of the
work. In the 20
th century horrific some of the cases of genocide violence that occurred
include, in Turkey 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives (1915-1917) in Cambodia where 2
million people died from 1975-1979.The greatest loss of life in a genocide case took place in
the Holocaust during World War 2.
9.6 FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH GENOCIDE Difficult life conditions
Include economic problems such as extreme inflation, depression, unemployment, political
conflict and violence, war, a decline in the power in relation to prestige, and importance of a
nation. Severe persistent difficulties of life frustrate basic human needs that demand
fulfilment. Include need for security, for a positive identity, for effectiveness and control
over important events in one’s life, for positive connections to other people and for
meaningful understanding of the world or comprehension of reality. Psychological processes in individuals and social processes in groups can arise that turn the
group against others as they offer destructive fulfilment of these needs. German was faced
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with serious life problems after world war 1. The war and defeat were followed by a
revolution, a change in the political system, hyperinflation, the occupation of the Ruhr by the
French, who were dissatisfied with the rate of reparation payments, severe economic
depression, and conflict between political extremes, political violence, social chaos and
disorganization.
Group conflict
Group conflict may revolve around essential interests such as territory needed for living
space. Psychological elements such as attachment by groups to a particular territory, unhealed
wounds in the group or prior devaluation and mistrust of the other make the conflict
intractable, Conflict may be between dominant group and subordinate groups with limited
rights and limited access to resources. When group conflicts turn into wars and the other
predisposing conditions such as economic hardships are present mass killing or genocide
becomes likely. In Rwanda preceding the genocide by the Hutu of Tutsi in 1994, there were
both difficult life conditions and conflict between groups .Starting in 1990 there was also the
beginning of a civil war.
Cultural-societal characteristics
Cultural devaluation The differentiation between in-group and out group; us and them tends by itself to give rise to
favourism of the in-group and relative devaluation of the out-group and discrimination
against its members. Devaluation of individuals and groups makes it easier to harm them. A
history of devaluation of a group, negative stereotypes and negative images perpetuated in the
products of the culture, its literature, art, and media preselects this group as a potential
scapegoat and enemy.
In German there had been a long history of anti-Semitism, with periods of intense
mistreatment of Jews. The intense anti-Semitism by Luther who described Jews in language
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similar to that later used by Hitler was an important influence, In Rwanda there was intense
hostility by Hutus towards Tutsi as a result of prior dominance by Tutsi.
Respect for Authority
With a predominant tendency to obey authority. It leads people to turn to authorities for
guidance in difficult times. It leads them to accept the authorities’ definition of reality, their
views of problems and solutions and stops them from resisting authority when they lead them
to harm others. Strong respect for authority characterize societies that engage in genocide
such as German, Turkey, Cambodia, and Rwanda.
A monolithic culture
A monolithic culture with a small range of predominant values and /or limitation on the free
flow of ideas adds to the predisposition for group violence. The negative predisposition of a
victim group and the definition of reality by authority that justifies or even necessitates the
victim’s mistreatment will be more broadly accepted. Democratic societies which tend to be
more pluralistic are unlikely to engage in genocide especially if they are mature democracies
with well -developed civic institutions. German culture was monolithic, stressed obedience,
order, efficiency and loyalty to the group
Cultural self-concepts
A belief in cultural superiority and a shaky group self- concept that requires self -defence
can contribute to the tendency to turn against others. This is a belief in superiority of ones
group with an underlying sense of vulnerability and weakness. Germans saw themselves as
superior in character, competence, honour, loyalty, devotion to family, civic organization and
cultural achievements. Narcissistic personality disorder
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Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense
of their own importance and a deep need for admiration. Those with narcissistic personality
disorder believe that they're superior to others and have little regard for other people's
feelings. But behind this mask of ultra-confidence lies a fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the
slightest criticism
Unhealed wounds due to past victimization
Groups of people who have been victimized in the past are intensely affected and their sense
of self is usually diminished. They see the world and people in it especially outsiders as
dangerous, feel vulnerable needing to defend themselves which can lead them to strike
violently. Effects of victimization can be transmitted through generations.
A history of aggressiveness
Aggression can be a way of dealing with conflicts. This makes aggression more acceptable,
and normal. Such a tradition existed in Germany before WW1. It was greatly strengthened by
the war and wide spread political violence that followed it. There also existed a prolonged
nature of post- traumatic stress disorder among Vietnam War Veterans who had similar
experiences. These are direct combat, a lost war, lack of appreciation by the society, decline
in self- esteem, loss of faith in the benevolence of the world, and in legitimate authority.
Scapegoating and authority
Scapegoating arise out of difficult life conditions or group conflict and offer destructive
satisfaction of basic needs in that they are likely to lead to harmful actions against others.
Scapegoating protects a positive identity by reducing the feelings of responsibility for
problems. Adopting nationalistic and/or better world ideologies offers a new comprehension
of reality and by promising a better future hope as well
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The psychology of bystander
I
n the face of increasing suffering of a subgroup of society bystanders frequently remain
silent, passive. These are both internal and external bystanders who are other nations and
outside groups. Passivity in the face of others suffering makes it difficult to remain in internal
opposition to the perpetrators and to feel empathy for the victims. To reduce their own
feelings of empathic distress and guilt, passive bystanders will distance themselves from the
victims. Just world thinking will lead them to see victims as deserving their fate and to
devalue them. While in Cambodia the population was completely brutalized, In Turkey and German and
initially in Argentina the majority accepted if not supported the perpetrators actions. In
Rwanda a small but significant percentage of the population participated in the killing. Most
Germans participated in small ways like using the Hitler salute and through organization and
group activities. Most were semi-active. they boycotted Jewish stores and broke intimate
relationships and friendships with Jews Many benefited in some ways from the Jews fate by
assuming their jobs, and buying their businesses. The population initiated ant-Jewish actions
before government orders such as firing Jewish employees or not giving them paid
vacations. External bystanders or other nations and organizations outside Germany had little
to fear especially at the start of the persecution when German was weak. Still there was little
response. Even after the many Nazi atrocities, the whole world went to Berlin to participate
in the Olympics thereby affirming Nazi German. American corporations were busy doing
business in Germany during most of the 1930’s. In addition people outside Germany were
also likely to engage in just world thinking and to further devalue Jews in response to their
suffering in German. The German propaganda against the Jews reached the outside world.
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Rwanda presents a recent disturbing example of international passivity. The civil war began
in 1990, with the Rwanda Patriotic front, a small group of Tutsi who were refugees from prior
violence against Tutsi or their descendants entering the country as a military force. The
French immediately began to provide military aid to the government and continued its aid in
subsequent years without protesting the occasional killing of hundreds of Tutsi peasants.
Before genocide began in April 1994 there were warnings of impending violence by human
rights organizations. The commander of UN peacekeepers received confidential information
that genocide was being planned and asked his superior’s permission to destroy arms that
were being assembled. He was instructed to do nothing. After the genocide began most of the
UN peacekeepers were withdrawn. The United states and other nations avoided the use of the
term genocide while 700,000 Tutsi were killed over a period of 3 months. Apparently the
purpose in not using the word genocide was to avoid invoking the UN Genocide Convention
and thereby the moral obligation to respond.
9.7 SUMMARY
.
In this lecture we have discussed causes of ethnic conflicts, perpetrators of violent wars,
development of genocide and terrorism and factors associated with genocide.
9.8 NOTE
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Conflicts can result to violence and wars hence threatening international security and peace.
All can be perpetrators of violence either actively or passively by not doing anything. While
some will be guilt of commission others will be guilt of omission.
9.9 ACTIVITIES
From what you have learnt in this lecture discuss in what ways African communities act as
bystanders during the times of conflicts and wars in their states . 9.10 FURTHER READING
Cottam,M.L., Dietz-Uhler,B., Mastors, E .& Preston, Thomas (2010) Introduction to Political
psychology 2
nd
ed. Britain: Psychology Press.
9.11 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Differentiate the following terms as used in this lecture: a)
Mass killing and genocide
2.
Using realistic conflict theory and social identity theory explain the causes of ethnic
conflicts.
3.
Explain psychological factors associated with genocide
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THE POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF TERRORISM
LECTURE TEN
10.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we will continue with the topic international security with special reference
terrorism. The following aspects of terrorism will be discussed: trends, why groups turn to
terrorism, trends in terrorism
, demographic profiling of terrorists, recruitment and
indoctrination, conformity and social control and finally state terror and cultures of fear.
10.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES,
By the end of the lecture you should be able to:
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a)
Discuss the factors that motivate individuals and groups to turn to terrorism
b)
Describe various ways used by terrorists in recruiting members c)
Explain ways used by terrorist group leaders to ensure conformity to the group
norms.
d)
Discuss ways in which legitimate governments execute terrorism on its citizens
10.3 MEANING AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Terrorism is a deliberate and systematic violence performed by small numbers of people. The
purpose is to intimidate a watching popular audience by harming only a few .Terrorism is
meant to hurt not destroy, is pre-eminently political and symbolic, a concealed resistance to
authority. Targets of terrorists are symbols of the state or of social norms and structure they
fight. Terrorism can be traced to French Revolutions (1793-1794). Initially terrorism had positive
connotation and was associated with struggle for democracy. However with time it came to
be associated with abuse of power especially by the state. During the World War 11 terrorism
again assumed its revolutionary connotation through nationalist revolts in Asia, Africa and
Middle East against the European rule. Since 1960’s various terrorist groups have sprung up
either operating internationally or committing attacks against foreign targets in or out of their
countries to attract international attention. Barash (2010) indicates that all suicide terrorists’
attacks have in common a specific secular and strategic goal; to compel modern democracies
to withdrawal military forces from territories that the terrorists consider to be their homeland.
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Terrorism specialists link religion to terrorism pointing to the growth of many religious
terrorist groups. One of the things that make religious terrorists so spine-chilling is their
willingness to carry out operations that are far more deadly and destructive than those
conducted by their secular counterparts. Good examples are the attacks by Al Qaeda airplane
hijackers on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. 10.4 TRENDS IN TERRORISM
As you have learnt from above, terrorism have changed over time including the ways that
terrorists operate. Several of the apparent trends are described below.
Terrorism has become bloodier and suicide terrorism is now the most deadly form. In the
period 1980-2003, suicide attacks compromised only 3 percent of all terrorist incidents but
accounted for 48 percent of the fatalities. Terrorists use wide-ranging of tactics such as
kidnapping, hostage taking, bombing, and assassination. Some use all these while others use
mix and match. In terms of casualties suicide attacks are the most efficient form of terrorisms.
It has advantages in timing, access, and flexibility if plans have to be changed in the last
minute. It is less expensive to carry out and results in more deaths and casualties. Since the
perpetrator is not expected to survive, a getaway plan is not necessary. Suicide terrorists are
treated separately from the rest of the group and pressures focus exclusively on reinforcing
the person’s belief in willingness to die for the group. Both men and women participate in
suicide terrorism. According to zedalis (2004) female suicide bombers were never used in the
past, however in the recent past series of them have been used in different venues, in different
countries and for different terrorist’s organizations.
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Terrorists have evolved new models of organization. In place of the hierarchies of the past,
terrorist groups can now employ flat organizational structures and operate independent
scattered cells. They use modern communications techniques for networking across regions
and their compartmentalization makes it difficult for their enemies to penetrate their
operations.
Terrorists have developed financial resources that make them less dependent on state
sponsors. Have become skilled in raising money, moving it and blocking detection of their
financial operations. They have direct contributors and many groups. They receive financial
contributions through the internet as well. Islamic non-governmental charity organizations are
another source of funding sometimes knowingly and sometimes not. Certain terrorists groups
also engage in kidnapping for ransom, extortion, protection rackets and drug trafficking.
Others have very substantial legitimate investments that are difficult to trace.
Terrorists have learnt to effectively exploit modern communication technologies. To reach
their target audience, terrorists no longer need to rely on underground publications and radio
stations. A full range of video equipment, computers, e-mails, mass-marketed CDS, all of the
advances represented by the latest information revolution are available to them and they are
taking full advantage. They can now shape, produce and disseminate sophisticated messages
via the high speed internet and World Wide Web without concern for censorship and very
little fear of discovery.
Terrorists have increased their mobility and expanded their operational theatre. As a result of
wide spread exodus from zones of conflict, terrorists are able on their own and through
networked, contact with migrating populations and to operate more extensively across
borders. In addition modern communication has also enabled transnational connectivity
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among terrorists groups who may not share the same ideology but do share expertise, tactics
and even technology.
10.5 WHY DO GROUPS TURN TO TERRORISM
There are varied factors that motivate individuals to join terrorist groups. These can be
generally categorized as social, political, economic and personal reasons. Social motivations
include alcohol abuse, culture alienation, drug abuse addiction and societal alienation.
Masters and Norwitz (2008) identified background factors such as socialization and decision
making. Economic motivations include criminal activity, financial problems, and lack of motivation to
seek employment / work, underemployment and unemployment. Political motivations can be
traced to acts by another country’s cultural domination and a countries support for a defined
enemy, intolerable government policies and oppression of identity groups.
Personal motivations include the need to protect ones identity as explained in the social
identity theory. Festinger (1950, 1954) argued that individuals join groups in order to provide
standards with which to compare their own beliefs, opinions and attitudes and satisfy
interpersonal needs.
Psychopathological views postulates that terrorist suffer from deep psychological problems;
they are crazy psychopaths or cold-blooded killers and evil morally. Sociopath which falls
under antisocial personality disorder has been associated with terrorism. Individuals with
these disorders are characterized by a tendency to disregard others, violate the rights of other
and fail to feel empathy for their victims. That is why they will kill without any remorse.
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Kaplan, 1981 traces terrorists’ behaviour to psychopathology; specifically a defective
personality that stems from child hood experience of humiliation by an aggressor. Pearlstein
1991 identifies narcissistic personality disorders amongst terrorist. Post notes that their
psychological mechanisms of externalization and splitting (a defence mechanism of
individuals with a damaged self -concept) are found amongst those with narcissistic and
borderline personality disorders. These are prevalent in terrorists. Post (2004) argues that
terrorists have a special psychology that they construct to rationalize the acts they are
psychologically compelled to commit which becomes the justification for their violent acts. Personality traits and motivation. Do you think that terrorists have specific traits?
Authoritarian personality especially attributes of submission to authority, aggression against
non-conformist groups and conventionalism, are strongly linked to right-wing
authoritarianism are linked to terrorism Altemeyer (1996). Other traits associated with
terrorism include as cognitive complexity, self -confidence, ethnocentrism, distrust of others
and need for affiliation, intimacy power.
However, some scholars argue that there is no such thing as a terrorist personality, especially
one that is considered deviant and maintains that psychopathology and personality disorders
found amongst terrorists are just as those found among non-terrorists from the same
background. Though the motivating factors are many individuals can have more than one
motivating factor. 10.6 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILING OF TERRORISTS
This is intended to identify notable commonalities among terrorists. Terrorists come from
different social, economic classes, age groups, gender groups, occupations, educational
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background and in the case of transnational networks such as the Al-qaida countries of origin/
citizenship/ residency (Mastors and Daffecnbaugh 2007). In many terrorist groups the initial
leadership tend to be held by middle and upper middle class people. But as the group evolves
over time new leaders obviously emerge. These are usually drawn from the ranks and are not
necessarily from the social classes of the old cadre. The masses often tend to be drawn from
those with lower or working class backgrounds but not all the time. For some, economics is
not even an important motivating factor but there could be others.
10.7 RECRUITMENT AND INDOCTRINATION
Recruitment plays a vital role in any terrorist group. Without a flow of new members the
existence of the group is threatened. Recruitment involve secretive operations where
significant measures are taken to vet recruits. Letting through one person into the group such
as a foreign government agent or source can be potentially devastating to a terrorist group.
Vetting is a continual process that seems to take place throughout the recruitment and also
during the member’s tenure. Once a member is trusted some suspicion is alleviated however
the groups tend to continually watch their members for potential betrayers. Terrorist groups
tend to create their own counterintelligence wings not only to stop penetration from the
outside but also to find betrayers.
The internet is used in the recruitment and to mobilize supporters to play a more active role in
supporting the cause and activities of terrorist groups. Website technologies (audio, digital
video etc.) are used to enhance the presentation of their message and to capture information
about users who browse their websites. Users who seem most interested in the organization’s
cause or well suited to carrying out its work are then contacted.
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Terrorists use sophisticated methods to refine or customize recruiting techniques on the net.
Using some of the same marketing techniques employed by commercial enterprises, terrorists
severs could capture information about the users who browse their websites and then later
contact those who seem most interested. Recruiters may also use more interactive internet
technology to roam online chat rooms and cyber cafes looking for receptive members
particularly young people. Electronic bulletin boards and use net discussion forums can also
serve as vehicles for reaching out to potential recruits. Interested computer users around the
world can be engaged in long term cyber relationships that could lead to friendships and
eventual membership.
After joining a terrorist group individuals go through a series of steps to remove their old
lives and lead them to new ones. This is a form of self-redefinition. This involve processes of
de pluralization and de individuation. De pluralization occurs when previous group identities
are stripped away, while de individuation refers to a loss of self –awareness and evaluation
apprehension that can occur when individuals join groups and become anonymous. Thus
personal accountability and responsibility are shifted away from the individual to the group.
This allows individuals to commit crimes they would not commit as individuals. Moral
disengagement discussed earlier provides moral justification and also allow individuals to
commit heinous acts against others. After recruitment recruits go through an indoctrination process. Though many are motivated
to join terrorist groups for various reasons as you have learnt above, not all will have an
existing motivation thus they need to be pulled through indoctrination. Propaganda is central
to this process. This is because recruitment focus on the message and the mind-set of the
recruit. Propaganda is used during assessment to draw the member in, then are further
indoctrinated with illustrations of group propaganda. The group’s central messages are
constantly reinforced and alternative views are explained away.
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When recruits (and members) are faced with conflicting information or they question the
group’s position, alternative views are conveniently explained away. If a recruit who is being
indoctrinated or a member of the group questions the messages and explanations given to
them, they are offered rationalizations that explain away the doubt while reinforcing the
group’s way of thinking. With time one internalizes the group’s views and becomes
radicalized.
Terrorist groups disseminate their propaganda message through a variety of mediums.
Including video and audio tapes, leaflets, pamphlets, books lectures/ sermons, poetry, video
games, music videos, C.D’S, cassettes and so forth .Through the internet terrorist groups are
able to reach a wider audience and gain potential recruits through websites, chat rooms, blogs
and other tools. Terrorist groups can and do learn from each other and often adopt successful
strategies of other groups. Al-qaida has been very successful over other groups on use of propaganda and draws on the
successes of other groups. Mastors and Daffenbaugh (2007) explain that the Al-qaida
network uses propaganda to educate individuals about their perceptions of the codes of
behaviour, political events, social policy and religion including letting the followers know
about the exploits of the network.
In conclusion propaganda serves as a recruitment tool, as a conformity measure and to
popularize a group’s message. Propaganda is used to entice recruits, exemplify group norms
and goals, reinforce the norms and goals for existing members and keep existing supporters
such as financial donors and those in diaspora informed.
Dehumanization of the enemy is an extremely effective tool in getting potential recruits to
understand the importance of the defined enemy. Dehumanization also serves to reinforce the
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beliefs of existing members (Staub 1989, Zimbardo 2007). The enemy is demonized and
defined as subhuman thus violence against this enemy is acceptable. (Zimbardo ,2007) Dehumanization is a form of moral disengagement where individuals can morally disengage
from destructive conduct. For example an individual can disengage by redefining harmful
behaviour as honourable, thus creating moral justification for violence. Other options
according to Zimbardo (2007) are to minimize our sense of a direct link between our actions
and harmful outcomes by diffusing or displacing personal responsibility, ignore, distort,
minimize or disbelieve any negative consequences of our conduct and reconstruct perceptions
of the enemy by blaming them for the consequences and for dehumanizing them.
For instance amongst many radical Muslim groups. Israel is portrayed as the enemy. Jews are
demonized and have even been described as descendants of pigs. Deeds against the evil
enemy are portrayed as necessary and justifiable. The enemy is also the scapegoat for the
problems of the members of the terrorist group. As Staub (1989) writes, “finding a scapegoat
makes people believe their problems can be predicted and controlled and it eliminates one’s
own responsibility thereby diminishing guilt and enhancing self-esteem”. In al Qaida for
example the USA and Israel are the enemies responsible for the suffering of Muslims
worldwide and they are clearly vilified. 10.8 CONFORMITY AND SOCIAL CONTROL AMONG TERRORIST GROUPS
As you learn in lecture four
conformity is necessary for the existence of any group. To ensure
there is conformity terrorist groups often have rituals for newcomers whether a ceremony or
some other form of initiation ( Moreland and Levine 1982). For example some Al Qaida
members were asked to take a bayat (oath of allegiance) to Osama bin laden. (Shenon, 2002).
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New recruits are put through a variety of measures to ensure their conformity. They are
taught the way of the group and pressured to buy-in to the group norms. Once in a group a recruit is expected to conform to the norms of the group and incorporate
these norms into their own behaviour. Group norms must be constantly reinforced. The more
experienced members of the group bears the responsibility of keeping the recruits in line and
committed. In case of a dissenter or a deviant group members who do not conform hence
threatening the cohesiveness of the group and the conformity of other members, they are
dealt with by the group through conformity measures such as being expelled or killed .This is
usually, after other confirmative measures have been tried.
Recruiters tend to be sophisticated and assess recruits for specific roles in the group.
Therefore some are seen as valued for key roles, while others are not. The simple fact is that
some recruits are more coveted than others.
One of the tactics used by groups is social control of the communities in which they operate.
Their view of proper behaviour is extended to the wider public and the communities are often
held hostage by fear of the terrorist groups. In a sense the group wants the wider community
to conform. Often these measures are coercive in nature and terrorist groups can and do
operate unrestrained in those communities. Not everyone in these communities supports the
groups, but they are still subject to the domination of these groups and their rules. Terrorist
group members are feared and operate above the law and they have put measures in place to
punish those who violate acceptable behaviour.
10.9 State terror and cultures of fear.
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Another form of terror consists of systematic efforts by a government to terrorize the
population of the country through torture, political murder, genocide and other atrocities
(Rummel, 1994; Sluka, 2000). The goal is to terrorize the population into political submission
and obedience while opponents of the government are being violently repressed or killed. A
culture of terror is an institutionalized system of permanent intimidation of the masses or
subordinate communities by the elite. It is characterized by use of torture and disappearances
and other forms of extrajudicial death, squad killings as standard practice. A culture of terror
establishes collective fear as a brutal means of social control. In these systems there is a
constant threat of repression, torture and death for anyone who is actively critical of the
political status quo.
Typically in these situations people have little access to substantiated information. Rumours
thrive since there is little concrete information about what is happening to whom and how.
Lack of concrete information increases fear of the unknown and it makes it easy for the
average person to ignore what is going on or not even try to find out for fear that if one
knows, one may be the next victim. Knowledge is dangerous in these situations and so people
stoop down, attend to their own personal situations and try not to question. This facilitates the
states control of the population by making the political killings possible and the population
passively acceptant. In these cases the entire population becomes a massive bystander.
10.10 SUMMARY
.
In this lecture we have discussed the international security in relation to terrorism. We have
discussed terrorism in relation to factors that motivate people to join terrorism, recruitment,
indoctrination, conformity, dehumanization and state terror.
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10.11 NOTE “If not infected you are affected” a famous HIV/AIDS related adage applies to international
security. This is because effects of conflicts, wars and terrorist attack are felt by all either
directly or vicariously. 10.12 ACTIVITIES
From what you have learn about terrorism write an essay explaining the measures that can be
put in place in Kenya to curb the recruitment of young people into terrorist groups.
10.13 FURTHER READING
Cottam,M.L., Dietz-Uhler,B., Mastors, E .& Preston, Thomas (2010) Introduction to Political
psychology 2
nd
ed. Britain: Psychology Press.
10.14 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
Differentiate the following terms as used in this lecture: Terrorism and guerilla war
Explain the psychological reasons that motivate individuals to turn to terrorism
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Discuss the role of propaganda in recruitment of members to terrorist groups.
Describe ways used by terrorist groups to ensure loyalty and conformity
CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND RECONCILIATION
LECTURE ELEVEN
11.1 INTRODUCTION
This is your final lecture in this course. In this lecture you will learn the various ways of
resolving conflicts and building reconciliation. The measures you will learn in this lecture are
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war tribunals, dialogues, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and integration Strategies.
The lecture will begin with a description of main domains that is conflict resolution, conflict
settlement and reconciliation. 11.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lecture you should be able to:
1.
Define the following terms: conflict resolution and reconciliation.
2.
Describe the conditions necessary for a conflict resolution and reconciliation to be
successful.
3.
Explain the functions of war tribunals , Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and
integration strategies.
4.
Evaluate the effectiveness of war tribunals and Truth and Reconciliation
Commissions as tools for conflict resolution and reconciliation.
11.3 EXPLAINING CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Conflict resolution is defined as a situation where the conflicting parties enter into an
agreement that solves their central incompatibilities, accept each other’s continued
existence as parties and cease all violent action against each other (Wallenstein ,2007).
Conflict resolution explores the causes of the conflict which may be unmet or threatened
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needs for security, recognition, autonomy and justice. Conflict resolution aim at
achieving an agreement between the two conflicting parties on transforming their
relationship and being committed to it. This new relationship created is conducive to
stable peace mutually enhancing cooperation and ultimate reconciliation. Conflict Resolution is an agreement that is interactive rather imposed or sponsored by
outside powers to which parties have a higher level of commitment. It serves the
following purposes:
Addresses the parties basic needs and fears
Builds a degree of working trust between the parties
Establishes a new relationship between the parties best described as a partnership
in which the parties are responsive to each other’s needs and constraints and are
committed to reciprocity.
Generate public support for the agreement and encourage the development of new
images of the other.
Another related concept is conflict settlement which precedes conflict resolution agreement.
Conflict settlement ensures that interests of both parties are met. This may involve the
intervention of outside powers who help in brokering or even imposing an agreement. Let us now focus on reconciliation. The word reconciliation is derived from a Latin word
conciliates which means coming together. Reconciliation can be defined as mutual
acceptance by groups of each other. How then is reconciliation different from forgiveness?
.Reconciliation and forgiveness are inter-related in that both involves the restoration of a
positive relationship between perpetrator and victim wherein negative emotions toward the
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perpetrator are replaced with positive emotions and pro-social behaviour. However
forgiveness is one sided where the victim forgives the perpetrator. Reconciliation precedes conflict resolution. However it’s a process which should be linked
with conflict resolution from the beginning as an integral part of it. It involves changing ones
collective identity by removing the denial of the other from it, accepting the others identity
and accepting the other party’s narrative without necessarily fully agreeing with it. The
essence of reconciliation is a changed psychological orientation toward the other.
Reconciliation requires the following conditions:
Mutual acknowledgement of the others nationhood and humanity.
Development of a common moral basis for peace.
Confronting history and coming to terms with the truth that is, admitting ones
truth into one’s own narrative.
Acknowledging responsibility, accepting own responsibility for the conflict and
for the wrongs done to the other.
Establishment of patterns and institutional mechanism of cooperation. However reconciliation after mass violence and killing is very difficult. Victimization creates
wounds as well as an imbalance in the relationship between victims and perpetrators mainly
because perpetrators gets away with their wrong doing. On the other hand victims suffer
from the chronic effects of trauma which is characterized by hyper vigilance, chronic
anxiety, insomnia, nightmares and many other tension related physical problems. People are
both numbed and angered by violence and both reactions when persistent can lead to post-
traumatic stress dis-order (PSTD). The wounds make the victims reluctant to enter into
reconciliation contexts. This necessitates the need for strong institutional support to make the
victims feel safe.
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More often perpetrators who do not feel guilty of their heinous act continue to see their
victims through the negative dehumanizing stereotypes that led them to commit the violence
in the first place. Other perpetrators including the bystanders do feel guilt and remorse thus
it’s important to involve the victims, perpetrators and bystanders in the reconciliation process.
In post conflict situations, punishment for crimes against humanity is also a part of the
reconciliation process.
The processes of conflict settlement, conflict resolution and reconciliation relate to social
influence processes of compliance, identification and internalization. Compliance entails
acceptance of influence from another in order to gain approval from the other and to avoid
disapproval and punishment. Identification involves acceptance of influence from another in
order to maintain a desired relationship with the other. May involve taking on the role of the
other or a role reciprocal to that of the other. Internalization entail acceptance of influence
from another so as to maintain the congruence of one’s value system. This involve adopting a
new behaviour consistent with ones beliefs or identity. Reconciliation is necessary to prevent violence from becoming cyclical, with one group
seeking violent revenge against another. It requires recognition of the humanity of one
another, forgiveness and the re-establishment of trust. Victims must have an audience that
acknowledges their trauma. Perpetrators must explain their actions which often results in a
description of the perceptions of their reality and their sense of mistreatment and also must
express remorse. In the process, victims recognize that what happened to them is not a result
of their own in humanity. While some societies choose not to confront the past and try to forget the horrors they
experienced and to move on others have devised techniques to resolve the conflicts and avoid
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future violence. These are war tribunals, dialogues, truth and reconciliation commissions and
integration strategies which you will learn in details in the next section of the lecture.
11.4 CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND RECONCILIATION TECHNIQUES
In this section I will discuss the following strategies: war tribunals, dialogue and truth and
reconciliation commissions.
WAR TRIBUNALS
War tribunals are trials where some perpetrators are put on a hearing for crimes against
humanity while others are removed from their legitimate positions of authority. For example
after WW II Nazi leaders were tried in Nuremburg. In 1993 & 1994, United Nations
established war crime tribunals in Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. Currently the International
Court at The Hague has indicted 76 people for human rights abuses during the war in Bosnia.
The most famous person was Slobodan Milosevic who finally surrendered in 2007. Those
accused of committing acts of Genocide in Rwanda were tried in Arusha, Tanzania at the
International Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established permanently in 2002 by United
Nations though, USA does not support it . The ICC has opened up investigations into the
situations in Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African
Republic and Darfur in Juba and in Kenya .
However war crimes have faced quite a number of criticisms. For example the Nuremburg
trials conducted by the international military tribunal have been criticized for being little
more than vengeance by the victors of world war 2 .The laws, procedures and judges were all
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selected by the allies and the victorious allies who had committed some horrifying acts of
violence against civilians including bombing of Dresden and atomic bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki were not included.
Dialogue
Dialogue process involve engaging individuals with each other in an open forum so that they
can speak about their side of the story and also hear the other party’s side of the story.
Dialogue processes bring together actors from across the conflict divide in order to develop
an improved understanding of the concerns, interests, and needs of the other side. It involve
respectful interaction between individuals and communities. It may involve one session or
several sessions. In these sessions participants explore and build on shared experiences.
In the first phase participants share personal stories while exploring the question “who are
we”. During the second phase participants have a deeper exploration of personal and shared
racial history in the community in an effort to understand “where are we”. The third phase
entails developing a vision for the community in response to the question “where do we want
to be” The last stage involve answering the question “what will we do as individuals and with
others to make a difference”. Eventually participants often discover shared interests and start
working together on specific projects.
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRC) are intended to disclose the truths concerning
political violence, to allow the victims to grieve and to achieve a certain degree of
forgiveness and reconciliation. The first TRC’s were in Uganda in 1974,Bolivia in 1982,
Argentina in 1989 and Chad in 1990 . These were just but investigations into the
disappearances ,missing persons and other human rights violations. Reconciliation was not
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one of their primary goals. Reconciliation became a common ingredient in 1990’s embedded
in the Chilean National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation and South African Truth
and Reconciliation Commission of 1994. TRC’s are usually established in states where the governments replacing the power holders
who perpetrated the acts of violence does not have the power or is not stable enough to
challenge all of those agents as it was the case in Argentina. They serve the following
purposes:
They provide details on the violence including authorities involved in the decision
making.
Provide an audience for the victims and family member for their accounts and a
forum for acknowledging publicly the wrongs done to them
Are useful for trading amnesty for information about what happened to whom.
Helps in reconciliation and reconstruction of a working political and social system.
The main function of truth seeking in the process of reconciliation is to promote
communication and start a dialogue. However the connection between truth and
reconciliation is not a direct one and there is no causal –effect relationship. Nonetheless, truth
creates personal healing through catharsis and facilitate unearthing of data enough for
successful prosecution both of which may lead to reconciliation.
Do you think TRC’s are necessary and do they realize their goals? This is a key question
raised by many people. May be you realize that in some cases they do. For instance the
victims get an opportunity to express their emotions and they get to know what happened to
their loved ones. Systems of abuse are brought to light and people find out who ordered what,
when and why. However many victims object to amnesty for perpetrators and reconciliation
sometimes is difficult to achieve. It is further complicated by the fact that it requires a
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willingness to forgive, to tolerate one another, and to live together in harmony in the future.
In South Africa opinion polls after TRC finished its work found that two thirds of South
Africans felt that the revelations only made them angrier and contributed to a worsening race
relations. In some cases the perpetrators do not accept responsibilities and consider
themselves victims persecuted by truth commissions.
In Rwanda a traditional grass-roots court called Gacaca was used. This is similar to South
African TRC in that victims and perpetrators gather in a public forum, often a village centre,
where the victims tell their stories and the accused express an admission of guilt and an
apology. Gacaca however had some unique provisions which include:1) demand for all
information about the crime, 2) an apology and 3) the incrimination of one’s co-conspirators.
The incrimination creates opportunities for vendetta settling. The Rwandan government has thus established a Unity and Reconciliation Commission and
has encouraged the development of an all-embracing Rwandan Identity. Coffee cooperatives
in which Hutu and Tutsi cooperate on economic projects that bring financial gains for all has
been established, people have been forbidden from calling themselves Tutsi or Hutu and
division of difference between Tutsi and Hutu has been criminalized. INTEGRATION STRATEGIES
The process of integration involve reconstructing inclusive systems of interaction. To ensure
inclusiveness, integration strategies requires elimination of racial or ethnic prejudice and the
accompanying structural (legal, social) factors that maintain it. Successful integration
strategies also needs to have several psychological components. 1) Provision of different
identity groups in a state with options for social mobility and social creativity. This will
provide other ways of satisfying their needs without using competition and conflict and
enable people to form a third identity without threatening the existence of the primary
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identity. And 2) ways of addressing stereotypes and social distance among groups by
addressing perceptions of group inferiority and superiority. Contact hypothesis propose
increase in the intergroup contact which exposes people to complexities of various group
members. This provide them with information that breaks down stereotypes. However this
hypothesis has been criticized in that it works only in an environment that is supportive, in a
contact that is ongoing and where groups are equal in status. There are two types of
integration strategies ;shared sovereignty strategy and utilitarian integration strategy.
Shared sovereignty strategies
Shared sovereignty strategies focus on eliminating inequalities and their causes. Which is an
essential component of conflict resolution .This strategy takes into consideration the desire of
the group to maintain its integrity as an identity group and the importance of that identity for
groups members. In this integration strategy a group is given a degree of self- rule and
regional autonomy or state wide federation. .All these three involve devolution of power
empowering groups in decision-making capabilities in their regions or states while having
competitive power in the broader country government. Though these arrangements can
accommodate identity needs of groups, it is difficult to reduce stereotypes and promote
equality among different groups. Contact hypothesis we discussed above is useful in this
process since it is assumed that if people get to know members of groups they discriminate
against, the interaction will disprove the stereotypical ideas leading to tolerance and
acceptance.
Contact hypothesis may not be effective in this case for various reasons 1) in some states
groups are geographically concentrated preventing groups to intermingle, 2).intense emotions
which results after serious clashes between groups. You need to note that integration
strategies are preceded by conflicts. It is therefore important to have policies that address
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intergroup perceptions, prevent integration against ethnic or racial groups and ensure that
national institutions such as military are not dominated by one particular ethnic or racial
group. Domination by one group can result to anger and resentment among different groups
and guilt among those considered inferior. Perspective taking can be used to reduce
stereotyping .Perspective taking involves empathizing with others, experiencing their
perspective and the emotions it generates in them.
Utilitarian Integration Strategies
Utilitarian integration strategy focus on satisfying the population’s needs .This is achieved
through elimination of obstacles to equality of access to important political positions in the
country and access to state educational institutions and elimination of any state-sponsored
social discrimination. The integration however is affected by 1) social distance between
groups 2) historical relationships such as slavery, and 3) the depth of institutional
discrimination. The greatest challenge is changing perceptions of groups that have been
regarded as inferior further complicated by a negative self-image within the group. This
reflects the imperial-colonial political image you learnt in lecture two
, conquered people,
through the years of repression, come to accept ,as just ,the conditions and position in which
they live. They then tend to persistently incline toward the colonial and imperial images. To
break these stereotypes requires working on their self-efficacy beliefs, this involves providing
opportunities and persuading the minority that they can and should try to take advantage of
those opportunities.
One of the key strategies involve attracting qualified individuals in the minority community
into positions that exceed their expectations and the majority’s Affirmative action programs
are designed to do this. The implication is that the minority increasingly will be associated
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with high achievement hence breaking stereotypes of inferiority. Majorities must choose to
accept equality with subordinate groups.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS Another strategy is using political institutions to tackle the political psychology of conflict in
conflict resolution. An important element in this is the training of a new, impartial
professional police force. In multi-ethnic and multinational countries police force is used as a
tool of one ethnic or national group. This erodes the legitimacy of police and increased
resentment. Police force is the representative of government with whom people interact on a
daily basis, and, as such they are central source of perceptions of justice, or lack thereof, in
the political system. 11.5 SUMMARY
In these last lecture we have discussed various ways of resolving conflicts. The measures
discussed in this lecture are dialogue, war tribunal’s truth and reconciliation commissions and
integration strategies.
11.6 NOTE 11.7 ACTIVITIES
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Having gone through this lecture, take a moment and reflect on its relevance in reference to
the Kenyan context. Write an essay of not less than 500 words on how the conflict resolution
techniques can you have learnt can be applied in resolving various ethnic and political
conflict usually experienced in Kenya. 11.8 FURTHER READING
http://.www.usip.org/publication/rethinking-truth-and-reconciliation-commissions-
lessons-sierraleone
http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/unit.php?id=65-24E-3
11.9 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
1.
Differentiate the following terms as used in this lecture: conflict resolution, conflict
settlement and reconciliation.
2.
Identify conditions necessary for reconciliation after conflict to be successful.
3.
Explain the psychological factors that ensure that integration strategies are effective.
4.
Describe how the following techniques are used in conflict resolution and
reconciliation: war tribunals and truth and reconciliation commissions.
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ANSWERS TO SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
Lecture One: Question (1) refer to 1.2, (2) refer to 1.3, question 3, refer to 1.4 and question
4 refer to 1.6.
Lecture Two: Question (1) refer to 2.3, question (2 ) refer to 2.1; and question (3) refer to
2.6
Lecture Three: Question (1) refer to 3.4.1., question (2) refer to 3.4.2, question (3) refer 3.4.3
and question (4) and (5) refer to 3.5.1 and 3.5.2
Lecture Four: Question (1) refer to 4.3.1., question (2) refer to 4.4 and question (3) and (4)
refer to 4.5 and 4.6 respectively.
Lecture Five: Question (1) refer to 5.3, question (2) refer to 5.4.1, question (3) refer to 5.4.2
and question four refer to 5.6
Lecture Six: Question (1) refer to 6.3 and 6.4,, question (2) refer to 6.3
Lecture Seven: Question (1), (2) and (3) refer to 7.3, question (4) refer to 7.4 and for
question 5 refer to 7.5.
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Lecture Eight: Question (a) refer to 8.3 and 8.4, question (2) refer to 8.4, question (3) refer
to 8.5, question (4) refer to 8.7 and question (5) refer to 8.8.
Lecture Nine: Question (1) refer to 9.3, question (2) to 9.3, question (3) refer to 9.6 Lecture Ten: Question (1) refer to 10.3, question (2) refer to 10.5, question (3) refer to 10.7,
question (4) refer to 10.8
Lecture Eleven: Question (1) and (2) refer to 10.3.question (2), question (3) and (4) refer to
10.4 REFERENCES
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Altemeyer. B (1996) The authoritarian spectre.
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Antonius, D (2013) The political psychology of terrorism fears
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Barash,P.B.(2010) Approaches to peace 2
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Bettenhausen,K.,& and Murnighan,J.K. (1991) The development of an intragroup norm and
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Brown, M.E.(1993) Ethnic conflict and international security
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Cottam,M., & Cottam,R. (2001) Nationalism and politics: The political behaviour of nation
states.
Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
Deaux,K., Reid, A.,Mizrahi,K.,& Ethier,K.A . (1995) Parameters of social identity journal of
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Forsyth,D.R. (2009) Group dynamics
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methodologies
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Houghton,D.P.(2014) Political psychology situations, individuals and cases
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Kecmanovic, D.(2013) The mass psychology of ethno nationalism
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McDemott, R. (2004) Political psychology in international relations
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Prentice,D.A., Miller, D.T.,& Lightdale,J.R. (1994) asymmetries in attachments to groups and
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