Moral & Political Psychology - PSY00061H

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Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2025-26

Module aims

Political polarization, prejudice, terrorism, authoritarianism, and war are unfortunately becoming commonplace in the 21^st century. In the UK, conversations around the environment, the economy, immigration, gender, and poverty, quickly become heated. At the core of these social, political, and military clashes are often different beliefs and ideologies vying for the chance to materialise in society.

This module introduces moral psychology and political psychology to students, with a focus on various ideologies throughout the seminars. The module begins by zooming out and considering the simple but difficult question of how do we know what is true? We then dive into the psychology of morality for the next few weeks. We consider psychological research on whether there are moral truths in the world, or whether morality is more subjective. We explore and discuss research suggesting that political orientation (i.e. whether people are left or right wing) is related to people’s moral values. We also consider the real-world consequences for those people and animals who fall outside our moral concern, including a seminar on the psychology of (not) eating meat.

The next few weeks is dedicated to understanding the psychology of ideology. Ideologies are maps or rulebooks which help people make sense of society. Ideologies help tell us what’s right and wrong, and they change the way people think and how people behave which is why they are an interesting topic for psychology.

Political views such as ‘left-wing’ and ‘right-wing’ are examples of ideologies. However, there are many other modern ideologies, including environmentalism, feminism, capitalism, nationalism, and religion. We also consider the similarities in how and why people think ideologically – irrespective of the flavour. For example, sometimes ideologies can be useful and encourage people to be kind and nice to others. However, certain ideologies can also encourage people to engage in violence and terrorism. Therefore, we have a seminar dedicated to ideological extremism and terrorism and look at the psychological profile of those who are willing to kill themselves and other people to further their ideological beliefs.

Module learning outcomes

• Discuss the module content in an open, constructive, and polite manner
• Understand and discuss psychological research and theories of morality
• Gain an insight into alternative political/ ideological viewpoints
• Demonstrate awareness of the distinction between morality, ideologies, and truth
• Consider the benefits and limitations of ideological thinking

Module content

• The Philosophy of Science – how do we know what is true?
• Theories of moralisation – how do we know what is right and wrong?
• Dehumanization and its consequences
• Animals – the psychology of (not) eating meat
• Left-wing vs right-wing political differences and similarities
• The politics and psychology of Brexit
• Ideologies and ideological thinking
• Falsifying an ideology class activity
• Ideological extremism
• Summary & exam revision

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled)	100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled)	100

Module feedback

The marks on all assessed work will be provided on e-vision.

Indicative reading

• Haslam, N. (2016). Concept creep: Psychology's expanding concepts of harm and pathology. Psychological Inquiry, 27(1), 1-17.

• Zmigrod, L. (2020). A psychology of ideology: Unpacking the psychological structure of ideological thinking