The chapters in this reader were written by leading scholars in the areas of political science and social psychology. The interdisciplinary fusion reflects the vast range of topics and issues at the forefront of each field. Both contemporary and classic articles are compiled, demonstrating the ever-changing nature of political psychology and offering comprehensive coverage of social psychological research into the processes that have governed local and global affairs in the postmodern world.

About the editors
Acknowledgments
Political psychology : an introduction

Part 1 Historical introduction

Reading 1 The poly-psy relationship : three phases of a long affair

Part 2 Personality and politics

Reading 2 The authoritarian personality and the organization of attitudes
Reading 3 Threat and authoritarianism in the United States : 1978-1987
Reading 4 The other "authoritarian personality"
Reading 5 Can personality and politics be studied systemically?
Reading 6 Leader appeal, leader performance, and the motive profiles of leaders and followers : a study of American presidents and elections

Part 3 Mass media and candidate perception

Reading 7 Experimental demonstrations of the "not-so-minimal" consequences of television news programs
Reading 8 Altering the foundations of support for the President through priming
Reading 9 Anxiety, enthusiasm, and the vote : the emotional underpinnings of learning and involvement during presidential campaigns

Part 4 Ideology and public opinion

Reading 10 The nature of belief systems in mass publics
Reading 11 The origins and meaning of liberal/conservative self-identifications
Reading 12 The fear of equality
Reading 13 Cognitive style and political belief systems in the British House of Commons

Part 5 Challenges of decision-making

Reading 14 Contrasting rational and psychological analysis of political choice
Reading 15 The drunkard's search

Part 6 Prejudice, diversity, and social contact

Reading 16 The social identity theory of intergroup behavior
Reading 17 The role of stereotyping in system justification and the production of false consciousness
Reading 18 Social dominance theory : a new synthesis
Reading 19 Group conflict, prejudice and the paradox of contemporary racial attitudes
Reading 20 Is it really racism? : the origins of white Americans' opposition of race-targeted policies

Part 7 Conflict, violence, and political transformation

Reading 21 Social organization for the production of evil
Reading 22 The psychology of political terrorism
Reading 23 Theoretical approaches to explaining collective political violence
Reading 24 Politicized collective identity

Appendix How to read a journal article in social psychology
Author index
Subject index