The Impact of Memory on Voting Behaviors

The outcome of the 2016 election came as a surprise to many, pleasant to some and unpleasant to others. However, when looking at the theories and ideas in political psychology, the election of Republican nominee Donald Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is not entirely shocking. Cognitive dissonance theory, schemas and heuristics, and social influence, specifically conformity, can all help to explain why Donald Trump is America’s new president-elect. Cognitive dissonance is defined as

democracy. In a democracy everyone has a say in the government. The voting rules are different for prisoners in each state. In some states prisoners voting rights have to be restored. In South Dakota felons must serve their full term of incarceration, parole, or probation before they are allowed to register to vote. In Washington, felons have to wait to be off parole to be able to vote. In some states, prisoners cannot get their voting rights back once they have left prison if they have committed a very

slavery has implanted a long-lasting effect on his life. Often times, when one experiences a painful memory in the manner such as, watching a family member hit until they are covered with blood, sparks a fire to stand up for what is right in the back of their mind. Douglass carried those visions of his aunt along with him his whole life, as well as his own repulsive images and memories. These memories brought him to his jurisdiction of fighting back

fundamentals drive general election results. A range of studies show that the electorate responds to economic performance, although voters’ measures of economic well-being tend not to be simple summary figures like GDP growth over four years. The economy impacts the election in a more nuanced fashion. Firstly, voters tend to place a notable amount of weight upon the election year, with other periods playing less of a role in their decision making. Secondly, the metric used to evaluate economic prosperity

1940s was one of the most turbulent periods of modern Greek history with an long-lasting impact on the postwar social, political and intellectual life. The end of the Civil War was succeeded by ‘the wars of memory’ and the past proved to be ever-present. Shortly after the cessation of the armed conflicts in 1949 both the victorious Right and the defeated and outlawed Left sought to manipulate the collective memory of the 1940s in furtherance of their postwar political objectives. One of the most far-reaching

Humans can imagine the future and make plans for later, whereas animals can only make predictions about the immediate future. We often look forward in time to reduce the impact of unpleasant situations and to try to control and change our future. Gilbert goes on to describe what “happiness” is. He says happiness is a “subjective feeling”, meaning it is impossible to compare two different individuals’ level of happiness

Pop Culture: Music is a Positive Influence Music has been known throughout time. It can help us through everything. There are so many solutions with music to help a person go through so many situations. Music can affect many people in many different ways. Without music some people would be lost and would have no motivation. Music can provide inspiration and insight through education. Music has influence on suicides, killings and shootings, and provocative actions. It can also influence good

people and their traits. Psychology is important because it concerns the sciences of the mind, and how many factors trigger different behaviors in certain situations. A common example in society today is the use of solitary confinement in prisons and how it affects the lives of the inmates and their families. This is seen in the story of Kalief Browder. Some of the behaviors of people in society may branch in positive outcomes or negative outcomes. A great example is the story of Kalief Browder. In May

Stereotyping can be a useful tool in how human beings navigate the world, however it can have negative impact on our social lives. Stereotyping was an important evolutionary tool for our ancestors to learn to adapt and survive. Stereotyping creates general rules that we can access through memory when we are presented with something that we need to interact with, and people use stereotypes to interpret their surroundings. However, when people use stereotyping against groups of people who may be different

To what extent may attitudes predict behaviour? Attitudes carry a huge weight in social psychology. In the past, the theory of attitudes was considered the most dominant study in social psychology (Allport, 1935). Throughout time, the term attitude has accumulated many definitions, a renowned definition being “a relatively enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings and behavioural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols” (Hogg and Vaughan, 2014, p. 150). The focus