Psychological foundations of collective thinking: Stereotypes, prejudice, dehumanization, and conspiracy theories 2500-PL-PS-FO-33

The aim of the lecture is to discuss changes in psychological relations between a person and other people, attributable to collective thinking. What is going on (at cognitive and affective levels) when we begin to think about others not from our own individual perspective, but from the collective perspective offered by the group (category) we belong to?
The following issues will be addressed:
• What is the social categorization (distinction us-them), how it is related to social
identity, and what are the functions of the latter?
• The origins and function of social stereotypes;
• The nature and consequences of prejudice;
• What is the authoritarian personality and social dominance orientation, and how they
affect intergroup relations?
• What are the origins and nature of conspiracy theories? How do they affect the relations
us-them?
• What are the psychological underpinnings of ideological thinking (e.g. on political
conservatism-liberalism dimension) and how it affects the social world understanding?
• How having power changes our behavior and emotions?