Front cover image for The political brain : the role of emotion in deciding the fate of the nation

The political brain : the role of emotion in deciding the fate of the nation

This investigation by a renowned psychologist and neuroscientist proves that we vote with our hearts, not our minds. Westen is the lead investigator on a team of neuroscientists who have been studying how the brain processes political information. For two decades he has been advancing a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more "dispassionate" visions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and economists. He looks at data across several Presidential elections from the 1950s through 2000, examines the evidence for the role of emotion in driving voting behavior, and provides a "clinical" view of a number of campaign ads, debate lines and personal profiles of the candidates who have sought to win our hearts. And he shows that Americans don't vote with their heads but with their hearts, or guts, or neuroses.--From publisher description
eBook, English, 2008
PublicAffairs, New York, 2008
Political platforms
1 online resource (xv, 475 pages)
9781586485733, 9781586485993, 9781282898165, 1586485733, 1586485997, 1282898167
698589713
Winning states of mind
Rational minds, irrational campaigns
The evolution of the passionate brain
The emotions behind the curtain
Special interests in mind
Trickle-up politics
Writing an emotional constitution
Aborting ambivalence
Gunning for common ground
Racial consciousness and unconsciousness
Death and taxes
Hope, inspiration, and political intelligence
Positively negative
Terror networks
Civil and uncivil unions
Electronic reproduction, [Place of publication not identified], HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010