Emotions in politics

Schumacher focuses on how emotions can be harnessed to strengthen democracy. ‘Politics is emotion,’ he believes. ‘Emotions influence how we think about politics and what decisions we make. Emotions are complex. They consist of processes in the brain and bodily responses. Furthermore, democracy is also a complex system, an interaction between citizens and politicians. For me, the scientific challenge is to unravel the interplay between democracy and emotions.’

Rise of the radical right

The chair offers Schumacher the chance to develop Political Psychology further at the UvA and strengthen cooperation between different disciplines. ‘We research social issues, such as polarisation and the rise of the radical right. Our research covers all kinds of concepts: emotions, but also personality, identity, ideology, the communication of politicians and mental health.’

Why is this especially important now? ‘To preserve our freedom, we need a proper understanding of recent political developments,’ Schumacher argues. ‘Why do citizens elect populist leaders who seize all the power? Why is it that people abandon centrist parties and there’s so much political division among citizens? The research I conduct with my colleagues gives us a unique perspective by exploring the very emotions involved in these processes.’

About Gijs Schumacher

Schumacher’s research combines insights from political science, communication science and psychology. A unique aspect of his approach is the integration of surveys and experiments with techniques from neuroscience and computer science. He is co-founder and director of the Hot Politics Lab, an interdisciplinary lab focusing on political psychology. He is also programme director of the Challenges to Democratic Representation research group at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) and involved in the research priority areas of Polarisation and Emotion.