Political Psychology in International Relations (Analytical Perspectives on Politics)

319 Pages·2004·18.89 MB·English

by  Rose McDermott

Political Psychology in
International Relations
ROSE McDERMOTT
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS
Ann Arbor
Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2004
All rights reserved
Published in the United States of America by
The University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
@) Printed on acid-free paper
2007 2006 2005 2004 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise,
without the written permission of the publisher.
A elP catalog recordfor this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McDermott, Rose, 1962-
Political psychology in international relations / Rose McDermott.
p. cm. - (Analytical perspectives on politics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-472-09701-6 (cloth: alk. paper) - ISBN 0-472-06701-X
(paper: alk. paper)
l. Political psychology. 2. International relations. I. Title.
II. Series.
JA74.5.M4 2004
327.1 '0 1' 9-dc22 2003026180
For
BRUCE BUENO DE MESQUITA
and my mother,
KA THLEEN McDERMOTT,
for their unwavering faith and support

Contents
Acknowledgments
IX
l. Introduction 1
2. Forms of Methodology in
Political Psychology 21
3. Theoretical Concepts in Political Psychology 45
4. Cognitions and Attitudes: What We Think
We Know and Why 77
5. Behavior: Do Actions Speak Louder
Than Words? 119
6. Emotion: Why Do We Love to Hate? 153
7. Psycho bio gra phy 189
8. Leadership 215
9. Group Processes 239
10. Conclusions 261
References 275
Index 299

Acknowledgments
The original idea for this book came from my adviser and mentor,
Philip Zimbardo. Having been an editor for a series in psychology,
he thought it might be a good idea for me to write a comprehensive
and cohesive book on political psychology and international rela
tions. I thank him now for the inspiration, among many other
gifts. I thought about it for a while, but it was not until I mentioned
this idea to another mentor, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, that the
project began to come to fruition. Bueno de Mesquita is one of the
editors for the Analytical Perspectives on Politics series published
by the University of Michigan Press. He went far out of his way to
solicit, encourage, and support this project from the very begin
ning right up until the end. I am extremely grateful to him for his
help and encouragement. I would never have started this project
without his assistance.
In addition, lowe several large intellectual debts to those who
trained me in psychology and in international relations. It goes
without saying that my work would never have been possible with
out the work and example of Robert Jervis. As my dissertation
adviser and beyond, through teaching and modeling, I have
learned a great deal not only about content and substance but also
about process and form. My appreciation for his skills, integrity,
and support continues to grow year by year. I also owe a great debt
to the late Amos Tversky, who not only taught me a great deal
about psychology but also served as a consistent example of work
ing hard to "get things right." I would also like to thank Peter
Katzenstein and Richard Wrangham, other mentors who have
provided guidance and support along my intellectual path over the
past few years.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the various edi
tors at the University of Michigan Press that have worked with me.
I thank Chuck Myers for his initial interest and faith in me and the
book. I thank Jeremy Shine for shepherding the manuscript
through the review process. And I am especially thankful to Jim
Reische for his critical help during the final stages.
x Acknowledgments
Obviously, there are many others whose support goes beyond
specific intellectual training, and I would like to acknowledge some
of those people here briefly. For friendship above and beyond the
call of duty time and time again, I would like to express my sincere
appreciation and affection for Lisa Butler, Steve Fish, Katie
Greeno, Johanna Putnoi, Margaret Sullivan, and Kurt Weyland in
particular. They have helped me to survive in more ways than they
might know over the past few years, and I am very grateful.
Finally, I would like to thank my family for their help, sup
port, and indulgence while I was working on this book. I thank the
cats Sweetie Pie and Blueberry, and especially our dog Demian for
consistent and undemanding companionship and comfort. I thank
my husband Jonathan Cowden for his unending encouragement of
this project, and of me, and his patience with all the time that it
took to complete. And I would like to thank my mother, who has
always shown unwavering faith in me, even when I have lost it
myself, and provided endless material and emotional support. I
could never have completed this project without her love.
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The events of September 11 profoundly shook the sense of per
sonal security previously experienced by most Americans. In the
light of the terrorist attacks, many of the questions and concerns
that circulated in the media and in private conversations focused
on the motivations of those involved. Why would someone do
something so horrible? How might a leader induce his followers to
give their lives for an abstract cause, and accomplish such a seem
ingly impossible goal even from a long distance away? How could
people hate America and Americans so much when we mostly
believe that we are decent and fair people who are concerned with
the individual and human rights of others? How can a relatively
small series of rare events puncture the sense of personal security
of so many individuals not directly affected by the events? How
can the government warn people to be careful without inducing
fear and paralysis? How can individuals within a nation construc
tively channel bottomless degrees of anger, anguish, and abhor
rence? Anyone of these questions, along with many others,
requires and deserves tremendous thought and consideration.
Two main insights come out of this reflection. First, explana
tions for very important and influential events often lie in the per
sonal psychology of leaders, participants, victims, and observers.
Comprehensive explanations for the personal motivations of a sui
cide bomber cannot be complete without some understanding of
the nature of individual thought, action, and emotion. Second,
tragedy can shift values, beliefs, and behaviors. Most important,
tragedy can bring people together in previously unexpected and
unusual ways. And psychological comfort, social support, and
resistance to isolation achieve what no terrorist can dissolve:
resilient individuals, community commitment, and political cohe
sion. These outcomes do not justify or ameliorate the impact of
tragedy, but they do illuminate the ubiquitous nature of psycho
logical phenomena within the context of the political world. Accu
rate representations of the world around us demonstrate the link
between politics and psychology in deep and myriad ways.