Érték, értelem, érzelem. Politikai pszichológia Bibó nyomán

The article contains the speech given at the Bibó Award Ceremony. The speech calls for more systematic studies in the field of political psychology. It draws attention to the fact that the role of values and socio-psychological orientations in mass politics is increasing. It surveys recent findings on Hungarian political attitudes, with a special emphasis on prejudices, political tolerance, perception of threat, and ideological values. One of the most surprising results of the analysed empirical researches is that values and psychological characteristics determine the selection of the least-liked target groups, and not social background. The degree of intolerance depends, however, on social characteristics (education, income, etc.) and not on ideological-political affiliation or on the level of authoritarianism. Relying on the most recent findings in American social- psychology, the article demonstrates that emotions and fear have a complex, and often positive, relationship to democratic attitudes and values.