The media have become a key actor connecting citizens, leaders and political institutions. This research area provides a theoretical and practical framework for understanding the interrelationships between the modern information environment and individual behavior, focusing on psychological aspects of communication and politics, the dissemination of messages in the digital age, the influence of communication on public opinion, persuasion processes and changing attitudes. Most of the issues are explored in a comparative perspective, in Israel and abroad.

More specifically, this area deals with classic issues in political communication and political psychology, such as media personalization of leaders, media consumption and attitude change, public opinion and policy making, voter behavior, and non-verbal communication in political arenas. In addition, we focus on issues specific to the digital age such as digital political participation, online protest and opposition, the role on new media platforms in mobilizating and driving social change, mapping of social networks, digital campaigns, and psychological and political aspects of new media. Investigating such topics involves an emphasis on the connection between theory and practice, and on understanding contemporary political and media processes as they occur in different empirical contexts.

Research topics of department faculty members include:

 

Dr. Eran Amsalem

* Political persuasion

* Effects of communication on political knowledge

* Political rhetoric and political elites

* The quality communication content

Prof. Christian Baden

* Political discourse and the press

* Interpretive conflicts and cultural resonance

* Political persuasion, activism and propaganda

* Alternative facts and conspiracy theories

Dr. Meital Balmas

* Social and political psychology

* Political leaders and political elites

* Stereotyping of political groups

* Political personalization in national and international arenas

Dr. Dmitry Epstein

* Public opinion and policy making

* Framing of policy issues

* Online public participation in policy-making processes

Prof. Tsfira Grebelsky-Lichtman

* Verbal and non-verbal communication and political success

* Gender and political communication

* The art of political persuasion

* Political communication and leadership

Prof. Neta Kligler-Vilenchik

* Participation and the political expression of young people

* How different social networks shape political expression

* Daily political discourse

Prof. Ifat Maoz

* Psychological-political aspects of conflicts and their resolution

* Social media, group identities and conflict

* Encounters and meetings between groups in conflict

* Psychological and political aspects of gender and diversity in media and media spaces

Prof. Lilach Nir

* Political communication in comparative perspective

* The effects of communication

* Public opinion and democracy

* Social networks and political behavior

Prof. Tamir Sheafer

* Actor-centered perspectives in political communication

* Cultural-political proximity between actors in the international arena

* The role of political narratives in the political process

* Implementation of new computational methods for automatic analysis of texts in political communication

Prof. Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt

* Political forecasts

* Journalism and politics