Section for Political Psychology
For many years, psychologists have been tackling topics related to politics. They analyze personal and situational determinants of one’s beliefs and preferences, types of political activity, ways of thinking about politics and power, and making political decisions. They also study conflicts and methods of resolving them, deal with the psychological aspects of terrorism and wars, macro-scale changes, globalization, and various effects of experiencing political processes on the quality of life of individuals and communities.
Thirty years ago (in 1977), the International Society of Political Psychology was founded by 220 researchers, including distinguished scholars such as Herbert Kelman, David Sears, Ervin Staub, David Winter, Helen Haste, Henk Dekker, and Gerda Lederer. The Society publishes three journals: Political Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, and ISPP News, and organizes annual conferences alternating between the US and Europe (the twentieth conference was held in Krakow, Poland, in July 1997, with significant participation of Polish psychologists).
Over the years, Polish psychologists have been present and increasingly more visible in this area of research. Many publications are being written. Polish textbooks on political psychology are used at numerous universities (Warsaw University, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Jagiellonian University, and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań).
In late autumn of 2006, the Laboratory of Political Psychology of the Institute of Psychology at the Polish Academy of Sciences organized a founding meeting of the Section for Political Psychology. The Polish Social Psychological Society authorities were asked to approve establishing the Section formally. We obtained the final approval on April 16, 2007.
We invite potential collaborators to work with us within the Section!
Section Management:
Chairperson – Prof. Krystyna Skarżyńska
Vice Chairman – Jarosław Klebaniuk, PhD
Secretary – Piotr Radkiewicz, PhD
Founding members of the Section:
Janusz Czapiński
Szymon Czapliński
Dariusz Doliński
Marek Drogosz
Janusz Grzelak
Jarosław Klebaniuk
Krzysztof Korzeniowski
Maria Lewicka
Tomasz Maruszewski
Małgorzata Kossowska
Piotr Radkiewicz
Janusz Reykowski
Ludmiła Rycielska
Piotr Rycielski
Krystyna Skarżyńska
Bogdan Wojciszke
The section was first introduced on September 21, 2007 during the 4th Annual Meeting of the PSPS, by organizing a session of talks entitled “Politicians. How do we perceive them and what do we expect from them?”, along with a panel discussion.
Discussion “The role of journalists in democracy”.
On Friday, March 7, 2008, a panel discussion on “The Role of Journalists in Democracy,” organized by the PSPS Section for Political Psychology, was held at the SWPS headquarters in Warsaw. Participants included Jarosław Kurski, Robert Walenciak, and Dariusz Bugalski. Krystyna Skarżynska and Jarosław Klebaniuk moderated the discussion.
Useful links:
International Society of Political Psychology