Mind over Paradigm: Political Psychology in International Relations

Rose McDermott shows how psychological concepts and methods have become central to the study of international security. Political psychology emphasizes individual agency, including leaders’ perceptions, emotions, identities, biases, and decision-making. It has reshaped debates over deterrence, signaling, the security dilemma, leadership, intelligence failure, status, reputation, credibility, emotion, and evolutionary behavior. While it remains theoretically fragmented and limited in predictive power because human behavior is complex, its pluralism has generated valuable insights and questions for addressing war, cooperation, and global threats.