Politics in micro and macro levels of

social life
Individual strategies for cooperation,
conflict resolution, pursuing interests,
even strategies towards family
members and relatives
As the social surrounding grows
bigger, individuals choices, attitudes
and behaviors become more
political in its true meaning

The political orientations, selfidentifications, ideals, principles and

ideologies of the individual towards the
social surrounding constitute an important
theme of our subject (political behavior).
The discipline of political psychology

Individuals self-identification with a political

group via membership to or orientation
(indirect support...etc) towards a political
party, political organization or movement.

The discipline of political sociology

The political choices and behaviors of the

individual may not always present a stable
and continuous character
May go through changes, developments and
transformations in time depending on many
different situations and factors.

Leader charism and political choice

Political propaganda and its influence

Elections and voting

Election campaigns

Electoral Systems

The process of adopting the political beliefs,

values and attitudes
The environment as a tutor
Life-long learning: gaining political
knowledge and experience at any age
A multi-level process
Different factors and conditions at each level

The development of a self-consciousness

The development of personality
Development of intelligence
Development of certain attitudes and
reactions both at emotional and cognitive
sides, towards different conditions

A transitionary period from childhood to

adulthood
Pyschological, biological and social changes
A process whereby the individuals social,
cognitive and political development is
carried out on the road to adulthood

The ego-centric condition of teens

Aiming to ensure the acceptance of their
beliefs, ideas or judgements by others,
mostly via debates or arguements
Ups & downs: the inconsistency in supporting
ideals and beliefs
The long-run outcome of teen ego-centrism:
idealism

The ultimate function of socialisation is to

ensure the adoption of social roles consistent
with the social norms
The transmission of social norms, values and
beliefs
Four different possible reactions of teens
towards this transmission process:

In search of his/her own self, the teen is

generally motivated towards being freed
from the influence of the parents and this
generally leads to conflictual situations
This conflictual attitude may also be
directed towards elder members of the
extended family,teachers, neighbors...
The individualisation of the teen:
becoming a personality

Patterns of roles, attitudes and beliefs of an

idol or model, mostly an elder within the
social environment (a relative, a neighbor, a
teacher...), being adopted by the teen during
the process of developing a personality, and
the process of political socialisation and
orientation as well

The individual establishes emotional and

cognitive relations with the political
structure via elements such as national
flag,state, nation...etc during childhood
These relationships are based on mostly
elementary and material systems of thought

During teenhood, the ability to think

abstractly is gained. So, the teen can from
now on perceive political matters not only on
material, but also presumptive grounds.
Combining the theoretical outcomes of both
material and abstract thought, the teen will
find his/her place within the political system

Life-long learning in the political arena: in

addition to the family an school, new sources
of political knowledge will be available to
the teen: friends, NGOs, means of mass
communication...etc.
This increase at the cognitive level of the
teen will contribute to the development of
political beliefs and attitudes

The tendency of teens towards nonmainstream or radical political movements

generally depends on personal and social
motives: developing a self-identity and the
social acceptance and admiration gained by
means of performing the social roles assigned
by this identity.

Age factor
New social roles and statues such as being
married, having a job, having children...
Another change of roles in terms of
socialisation: the adult, while he/she was
a socialised element, turns into a
socialising factor for the children,
youth...etc in the new social
environments

The family as the primary institution

The monopoly of the family in determining
the early tendencies towards political
orientation (both at emotional and cognitive
levels)
First impressions of the child on political
figures and matters are developed within the
family environment

Direct influence of the family (direct

political socialisation)
Indirect influence of the family (indirect
political socialisation)
Transmission of political attitudes,
ideologies, party identification and class
consciousness
Family traditions in politics

Parents applying authoritarian or democratic

ways of raising their children
Differing influences and outcomes of
differing raising methods
Idols or models within the family and
political orientation

Teachers as new symbols of authority outside

the family environment
School mates
Cognitive developments during education
(accumulation of knowledge)
School as an ideological state apparatus

Radio, TV, newspapers, internet...

Mass media as cognitive sources of political
behavior
Social roles presented via media,especially
TV
Media as a means of political propaganda

Friendship ties and relations within friend

groups constituting an environment whereby
determinants of political behavior are
influenced, altered and developed
Friends both as cognitive and emotional
sources

A feeling that members have a belonging,

a feeling that members matter to one
another and to the group, and a shared
faith that members needs will be met
through their commitment together
Sense of community changes from
individual to individual, as well as from
group to group (diversity of groups and
changing levels of attachment within
communities)

Social interactions within the community

play an important role in determining our
political choices and behavior.
There are two types of political behavior
influenced by community interactions:
Political discussion
Voting behavior

Political discussion as a way of

socialisation
Political discussion as a social interaction
which provides information about political
matters
Observing and communicating with other
members of the community may influence
political decisions
Political discussion as a by-product of
social interaction

Identifying oneself via membership or

support to any political party
The party becoming a symbolizer or
determinant of political identity
The party as a means of socialisation
The party as a means of collective action and
group consciousness
Partisanship: extreme form of party
identification