Üsküdar University Political Psychology Application and Research Center was established. Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan said that the center will conduct examinations and research on the psychological origins and reflections of political issues.
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, Dean of Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, stated that Üsküdar University Political Psychology Application and Research Center was established.
Psychological origins and reflections of political issues will be examined
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan stated that Political Psychology is a scientific discipline that examines the psychological origins and reflections of political issues within a framework starting from the emotions, thoughts and behaviors of individuals to social attitudes that form large group identities and from there to political life:
"The most distinctive feature of this discipline is that it has an interdisciplinary character, focusing on psychology and political science, but comprehending many scientific fields such as social anthropology, history, sociology, law and theology. The field focuses on large group identity, leadership studies, political trauma, conflict analysis and resolution, as well as psychopolitical analysis of international relations. The field of political psychology focuses on the fault lines that unite and divide the political terrain on the basis of social identities, conflicts and alliances."
Political Psychology conducts social psychoanalysis
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan noted that the discipline of Political Psychology is historicist and origin-oriented due to its tendency to examine the psychological causes that lead to social ruptures from a psychoanalytic perspective and said: "Just as an individual is subjected to psychoanalysis, societies are subjected to an evaluation of the traumatic and decisive events in their memories and the accumulation of past experiences. It tries to find causality and repetitive practices."
It has a wide range of applications
Prof. Dr. Arıboğan noted that Political Psychology has a wide range of applications and said, "In addition to political science and psychology, it is in close relationship with fields such as social anthropology, history, sociology, psychiatry, international relations, economics, art and philosophy. In addition to current issues such as conflict resolution, peace processes, civil wars, terrorism, political elections, leader analysis, it also deals with broader and deeper issues such as selected victories and traumas in the formation of national identities, psychological effects of social changes, the formation of large group identities, the origins of ethnic and sectarian divisions."
Research areas of Political Psychology
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan listed some topics as examples of research in the field of Political Psychology as follows:
- The formation and dynamics of large group identities; mass psychology
- Selected victories and traumas; grief and healing
- Migration and migration psychology; psychological breaking points of natives and nomads
- Ethnic identities; the distinction between self and other
- Psychological foundations of terrorism
- Psychological motivations of leaders and the psychology of followers
- Psychodynamics of political, economic and technological developments.
- Civil wars, genocide, massacres
- The ways in which mass media affect social psychology
- Public diplomacy and psychological tools; propaganda