- [UNTITLED]
- About the Contributors
- Introduction: Theoretical Foundations of Political Psychology
- Personality Approaches to Political Behavior
- Childhood and Adult Political Development
- Degrees of Rationality in Politics
- Behavioral Decision-Making
- Emotion and Political Psychology
- Toward an Evolutionarily Informed Political Psychology
- Genetic Foundations of Political Behavior
- Political Rhetoric
- Psychology and Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Perceptions and Image Theory in International Relations
- Threat Perception in International Relations
- Crisis Management
- Personality Profiles of Political Elites
- Psychobiography: “the Child is Father of the man”
- Conflict Analysis and Resolution
- Political Information Processing
- Political Communication: Form and Consequence of the Information Environment
- Political Ideology
- Social Justice
- Networks, Interdependence, and Social Influence in Politics
- Political Deliberation
- From Group Identity to Political Cohesion and Commitment
- Social Movements and the Dynamics of Collective Action
- Prejudice and Politics
- Migration and Multiculturalism
- Discrimination <i>Conditions, Consequences, and “Cures”</i>
- The Psychology of Intractable Conflicts: Eruption, Escalation, and Peacemaking
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
A fast-growing area of research is now aimed at understanding the biological bases of political behavior. This chapter reviews what is known about the genetic underpinnings of political behavior including political ideology, partisanship, political interest, knowledge, and participation. For each, it highlights what is known, what is largely speculative, and what questions need to be addressed. The findings raise new questions about our understanding of social and, more broadly, environmental influences on behavior. There is a critical need for better theoretical models and greater attention to the mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors interact. As such, this research area is particularly promising for political psychology.
Keywords: genetics, twin studies, political ideology, party affiliation, political knowledge, political participation
Carolyn Funk was an associate professor in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has written numerous articles using twin studies to examine the genetic and environmental influences on political behavior.
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- [UNTITLED]
- About the Contributors
- Introduction: Theoretical Foundations of Political Psychology
- Personality Approaches to Political Behavior
- Childhood and Adult Political Development
- Degrees of Rationality in Politics
- Behavioral Decision-Making
- Emotion and Political Psychology
- Toward an Evolutionarily Informed Political Psychology
- Genetic Foundations of Political Behavior
- Political Rhetoric
- Psychology and Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Perceptions and Image Theory in International Relations
- Threat Perception in International Relations
- Crisis Management
- Personality Profiles of Political Elites
- Psychobiography: “the Child is Father of the man”
- Conflict Analysis and Resolution
- Political Information Processing
- Political Communication: Form and Consequence of the Information Environment
- Political Ideology
- Social Justice
- Networks, Interdependence, and Social Influence in Politics
- Political Deliberation
- From Group Identity to Political Cohesion and Commitment
- Social Movements and the Dynamics of Collective Action
- Prejudice and Politics
- Migration and Multiculturalism
- Discrimination <i>Conditions, Consequences, and “Cures”</i>
- The Psychology of Intractable Conflicts: Eruption, Escalation, and Peacemaking
- Index
