Program Overview

Political Psychology Course

The Political Psychology course is a Master's level course offered by the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences. The course is 15 credits (ECTS) and is taught in English.

Course Description

This course is intended for those interested in understanding the psychology behind political attitudes and behavior. The course covers a range of political topics, attitudes, and behaviors, including political polarization, fairness, and individual differences in morality from a psychological perspective.

Course Content

The course starts with an overview of psychological theories central to the field. Psychological models of judgment and decision making are compared to economic rational choice models in the context of analyzing and predicting behavior among politicians and citizens. The course covers topics such as economic decisions, resource scarcity, distributive fairness, social influence, and in- and out-group effects. The lectures and seminars also cover topics related to morality and polarization.

Course Structure

The course is divided into two parts:

• Lectures and seminars (7 hp)
• Individually written course paper (8 hp)

The teaching consists of six lectures and four mandatory discussion seminars. Before each discussion seminar, students will write a literature synthesis of the mandatory readings of the related articles. Each student writes a paper on a topic related to political psychology broadly, formulating a research question, presenting and integrating previous research, and arriving at a suggested cause of action and/or implementation of a realistic policy based on relevant psychological theory and research findings.

Prerequisites and Selection

For admission to the course, completion of university education of at least 180 credits is required at the first cycle level. Language skills equivalent to English 6/English course B from Swedish upper-secondary school or the equivalent knowledge from an international confessed test, such as TOEFL or IELTS, are also required. Selection is based upon the number of credits from previous university studies, maximum 165 credits.

After Graduation

The course is focused on how psychological theories and empirical findings can be used to address political issues. The course aims to facilitate students' ability to analyze, critically assess, and discuss real political problems. It provides qualified knowledge related to the growing politicized polarization on, for example, climate policies. Such knowledge may come of use for students who aim to pursue a career within environmental governance and sustainable development.

Tuition Fees

The full education cost is 23,505 SEK, with the first payment being 23,505 SEK. No fees are charged for EU and EEA citizens, Swedish residence permit holders, and exchange students.