Political Psychology

The sex industry, specifically sex work and prostitution, has long been perceived and regulated as a “dirty and disorderly” feature of residential communities. The stereotypical, and unfair, view of sex workers is that they are vectors of disease and social...

In early May, with Donald Trump on the verge of solidifying the Republican nomination, his opponent Ted Cruz ranted to the press: I’m going to tell you what I really think of Donald Trump. This man is a pathological liar....

Mentioning politics in a message about an environmental issue may turn people -- even people informed about the issue -- away from supporting a pro-science solution, according to a team of researchers. In a study, conservative participants who were asked...

Certain personality traits known as cognitive styles are partially determined by genetic factors, which may account for some inherited similarities in political ideology, according to a twin study published online in Political Psychology. Cognitive styles are elements of personality related...

Over the past decade, several studies have shown that people who tend to hold more conservative views score low on measures of intelligence. However, it now appears that while conservatism and intelligence are negatively correlated, the link is not as...

While there are many examples of unethical leaders, from FIFA to the recent political discoveries from the Panama Papers leak, there are countless other examples, though not as headline grabbing, in history of leaders acting morally. Recent research offers new...

Americans may be more likely to accept the scientific evidence of human-caused climate change and its potentially devastating effects if they believe the economy is strong and stable, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. The findings...

The advertising landscape during presidential elections could look a whole lot different if each American were to vote for his or her own preferred candidate, instead of having to do so collectively through the current Electoral College system. This is...

Political conservatives tend to hold more negative stereotypes of people with mental illnesses, in comparison to moderates and liberals, which may lead them to engage in more discrimination against the mentally ill, according to a study published in the International...

Big differences in the ways conservatives and liberals think about solving the nation's most pressing problems couldn't be more apparent during this presidential election cycle. But political ideas aside, people who hold conservative versus liberal perspectives appear to differ in...

The vast majority of Canadians in correctional facilities have mental health and substance abuse issues as well as a high rate of suicide attempts and completions compared to the general population, a comprehensive review of studies on detainees' health has...

The chances of incarceration in America are always higher for blacks than for whites or Hispanics, regardless of their level of wealth, according to a new study led by Khaing Zaw of Duke University in the U.S. In addition, blacks...

Shoppers making ethical purchases, such as buying organic food or environmentally friendly cars, are generally seen as more virtuous - unless they're receiving government assistance. If ethical shopping is funded by welfare cheques, those shoppers are judged as immoral for...

Participants in major political conferences could write a book about it: negotiations constantly fail due to the uncooperative and selfish behaviour of individual negotiators. This can be observed in the often fruitless attempts to reach a climate agreement over the...

Metaphorical conflict can play a role in just how differently we rate two opposite ideologies, according to 2016 research. The series of studies, published in Psychological Science, examined the relationship between physical directions—specifically left and right—and individuals’ opinions about the...