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Are you tired of seeing one political side shouting over another? Do you struggle to understand why people see some things as morally fine, but you think they're abhorrent? If so, you need to delve into The Social Psychology of the Moral and Political Mind.
In this course, you will:
- Learn about how people make moral decisions based on automatic gut reactions, rather than reason and logic
- Understand the foundations of human morality, personality, and motivated decision-making
Read more
()
Are you tired of seeing one political side shouting over another? Do you struggle to understand why people see some things as morally fine, but you think they're abhorrent? If so, you need to delve into The Social Psychology of the Moral and Political Mind.
In this course, you will:
- Learn about how people make moral decisions based on automatic gut reactions, rather than reason and logic
- Understand the foundations of human morality, personality, and motivated decision-making
()
Are you tired of seeing one political side shouting over another? Do you struggle to understand why people see some things as morally fine, but you think they're abhorrent? If so, you need to delve into The Social Psychology of the Moral and Political Mind.
In this course, you will:
- Learn about how people make moral decisions based on automatic gut reactions, rather than reason and logic
- Understand the foundations of human morality, personality, and motivated decision-making
- Hear about the psychological evidence behind 'liberals' and 'conservatives' having different psychological make-ups
- Apply the evidence to current political debates
This course gives you what you need to know to understand the social psychology of the culture wars - fast. You will be learning all of this from an expert in this field. I am a university-based psychology lecturer, a practising research psychologist, and have published academic papers in the area of social psychology.
I hope you enjoy the course, and will be happy to answer an questions you have about the content.
Welcome aboard.
What's inside
Learning objectives
- You will learn how unconscious processes guide our behaviour
- You will be able to describe the various universal moral intuitions that help us make moral decisions
- You will understand why most people do not change their minds when given facts
- You will be able to explain how personality traits impact our political ideologies
- You will learn how unconscious processes guide our behaviour
- You will be able to describe the various universal moral intuitions that help us make moral decisions
- You will understand why most people do not change their minds when given facts
- You will be able to explain how personality traits impact our political ideologies
Syllabus
Introduction
Welcome to this course on The Social Psychology of the Moral Mind. In this lecture, we'll introduce the core concepts that you will learn about in the next section, and outline the key aims of the course.
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Syllabus
Welcome to this course on The Social Psychology of the Moral Mind. In this lecture, we'll introduce the core concepts that you will learn about in the next section, and outline the key aims of the course.
This lecture introduces your instructor for this course.
Dr. Craig Harper is a social psychologist, who teaches and researches in the area of social psychology. His area of expertise is decision-making and attitudes towards controversial topics. You can make contact through the discussion board and Q&A streams at any time!
This lecture briefly introduces what is to follow in the following three lectures. In this section, we explore three key principles of moral psychology:
1. Morality binds and blinds
2. We make decisions intuitively and rationalise them afterwards
3. Morality is made up of five key moral foundations
We are tribal beings. We like to form teams, circle around sacred objects and views, and defend them from attack. This lecture explores the first tenet of moral psychology - morality binds and blinds.
We have a tendency to make snap judgements about moral issues, and then to justify these once the judgement is made. These intuitive decisions are symptomatic of the second tenet of moral psychology - think first, rationalise later.
This lecture starts to look at the idea that morality is multifaceted. We tend to think about something being 'moral' if it is good, fair, and doesn't cause anybody any harm. However, psychologically speaking, morality is much broader than this.
In this lecture, we'll introduce moral foundations theory. This is a psychological model that sees us as having five core areas of morality. We'll investigate what these are, and how they might manifest themselves in everyday life.
In this lecture, we will start to look at how the moral foundations differ across different groups. We will introduce the idea of morality as an audio-equaliser, which is tuned individually for each person. You will learn about how the moral foundations vary across the political spectrum, and hear how you can take the test and find out what your own moral foundations are!
Controversial 'hot button' topics dominate our political landscape. In this lecture, we'll look at three of the most debated topics in today's society - immigration, abortion, and the election of President Donald Trump - to unpack what the moral foundations have to say about arguments on all sides.
The confirmation bias is one of the most common cognitive biases that we fall prey to. In short, we are motivated to seek out information that supports our points of view, and reject those that contradict our opinions. In this lecture, we begin to understand what is going on psychologically in this process, and look at some easy ways to begin to break our reliance on this mental shortcut.
This bonus lecture looks at the emerging problem of 'fake news'. This term gained popularity in 2016 thanks to its use by then presidential hopeful, Donald Trump. This video was shot in 2017, and outlines what fake news is, what it isn't, and what role this label plays in promoting motivated reasoning in political debates.
What have you learned in this course? We will sum up the key take-home points in this lecture, and hopefully leave you prepared to understand how people make moral decisions in their everyday lives.
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Reviews summary
Psychological insights into political beliefs
Good basic introduction that covers a lot.
Module on MFT provides key personal insights.
Course helps understand self and others' views.
Course content is well-organized and current.
Instructor explains complex ideas effectively.
Activities
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Show steps
Deepen your understanding of moral foundations theory by reading Jonathan Haidt's seminal work.
View
Jonathan Haidt Collection 4 Books Set (The...
on Amazon
Show steps
-
Obtain a copy of 'The Righteous Mind'.
-
Read the book, taking notes on key concepts.
-
Reflect on how the moral foundations relate to your own political beliefs.
Review Social Psychology Concepts
Show steps
Strengthen your understanding of core social psychology concepts to better grasp the course material.
Browse courses on
Social Psychology
Show steps
-
Review introductory social psychology textbooks or online resources.
-
Focus on topics like attitudes, persuasion, and group dynamics.
-
Take practice quizzes to test your knowledge.
Discuss Moral Dilemmas with Peers
Show steps
Enhance your understanding of moral psychology by discussing real-world moral dilemmas with classmates.
Show steps
-
Form a study group with other students.
-
Choose several controversial moral dilemmas to discuss.
-
Share your perspectives and listen to others' viewpoints.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Write a Blog Post on Motivated Reasoning
Show steps
Solidify your understanding of motivated reasoning by explaining the concept in a blog post.
Show steps
-
Research motivated reasoning and related biases.
-
Outline the key points you want to cover in your blog post.
-
Write a clear and concise blog post explaining motivated reasoning.
-
Share your blog post on social media or with classmates.
Political Psychology: Key Readings
Show steps
Expand your knowledge of political psychology by exploring a collection of key readings in the field.
View
Conservatives Without Conscience
on Amazon
Show steps
-
Obtain a copy of 'Political Psychology: Key Readings'.
-
Select chapters that align with your interests or areas of weakness.
-
Read the selected chapters and take notes on key concepts and findings.
Analyze a Political Speech Using Moral Foundations Theory
Show steps
Apply moral foundations theory to analyze a political speech and identify the moral values being appealed to.
Show steps
-
Choose a political speech from a prominent figure.
-
Transcribe the speech and identify key arguments.
-
Analyze the speech for appeals to the five moral foundations.
-
Write a report summarizing your findings.
Volunteer for a Political Campaign
Show steps
Gain practical experience in political psychology by volunteering for a political campaign and observing how psychological principles are applied.
Show steps
-
Identify a political campaign that aligns with your values.
-
Contact the campaign and offer your services as a volunteer.
-
Participate in campaign activities such as phone banking or canvassing.
-
Reflect on your experiences and how they relate to the course material.
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Show steps
Deepen your understanding of moral foundations theory by reading Jonathan Haidt's seminal work.
View
Jonathan Haidt Collection 4 Books Set (The...
on Amazon
Show steps
- Obtain a copy of 'The Righteous Mind'.
- Read the book, taking notes on key concepts.
- Reflect on how the moral foundations relate to your own political beliefs.
Review Social Psychology Concepts
Show steps
Strengthen your understanding of core social psychology concepts to better grasp the course material.
Browse courses on
Social Psychology
Show steps
- Review introductory social psychology textbooks or online resources.
- Focus on topics like attitudes, persuasion, and group dynamics.
- Take practice quizzes to test your knowledge.
Discuss Moral Dilemmas with Peers
Show steps
Enhance your understanding of moral psychology by discussing real-world moral dilemmas with classmates.
Show steps
- Form a study group with other students.
- Choose several controversial moral dilemmas to discuss.
- Share your perspectives and listen to others' viewpoints.
Write a Blog Post on Motivated Reasoning
Show steps
Solidify your understanding of motivated reasoning by explaining the concept in a blog post.
Show steps
- Research motivated reasoning and related biases.
- Outline the key points you want to cover in your blog post.
- Write a clear and concise blog post explaining motivated reasoning.
- Share your blog post on social media or with classmates.
Political Psychology: Key Readings
Show steps
Expand your knowledge of political psychology by exploring a collection of key readings in the field.
View
Conservatives Without Conscience
on Amazon
Show steps
- Obtain a copy of 'Political Psychology: Key Readings'.
- Select chapters that align with your interests or areas of weakness.
- Read the selected chapters and take notes on key concepts and findings.
Analyze a Political Speech Using Moral Foundations Theory
Show steps
Apply moral foundations theory to analyze a political speech and identify the moral values being appealed to.
Show steps
- Choose a political speech from a prominent figure.
- Transcribe the speech and identify key arguments.
- Analyze the speech for appeals to the five moral foundations.
- Write a report summarizing your findings.
Volunteer for a Political Campaign
Show steps
Gain practical experience in political psychology by volunteering for a political campaign and observing how psychological principles are applied.
Show steps
- Identify a political campaign that aligns with your values.
- Contact the campaign and offer your services as a volunteer.
- Participate in campaign activities such as phone banking or canvassing.
- Reflect on your experiences and how they relate to the course material.
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