Midterm elections

Midterm elections were more than a year ago but of course the 2020 presidential election is in the media already. You may have noticed that a lot of what is happening before and during an election season can be (and has been) addressed by social psychologists. Since it seems that we are in the continuous election mode, pick THREE concepts from chapter 15 that are relevant to elections in some way. You may describe something from your own experience or in general. Define each concept and explain its relevance to elections. Some examples of ch. 15 concepts that are relevant to elections are:

* attributions, fundamental attribution error (how we explain our own and others’ voting behavior)

* attitudes (how affective and cognitive components affect the behavioral component, voting)

* cognitive dissonance

* persuasion techniques (different routes to persuasion)

* compliance techniques (compliance in general, foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques)

* conformity (voting out of conformity, for example)

* group polarization

* mere-exposure effect

There may be other concepts that you’ve read about in chapter 15 that you feel are relevant to elections. Feel free to discuss those, as long as you can legitimately link them to elections (and explain your reasoning).