Abstract
This thesis investigates the psychological underpinnings of citizens’ political judgements in Turkey. Drawing upon political psychology studies, it focuses on the cognitive, affective and motivational components of political behaviour and investigates the role that ideological inclinations, value-orientations, emotions and sophistication play in shaping individual-based political decisions. By taking account of the electoral stronghold of the AK Party - whose roots are traced to its pro-Islamist agenda - in combination with the recent authoritarian turn in the country, the examination sheds light on the way citizens negotiate their political belonging and shape their positions in a non-traditional Western context. In doing so, the study uses both quantitative and qualitative data: the 2007 World Value Survey, a survey conducted in Ankara in 2009, and 25 semi-structured interviews with Turkish citizens. The findings highlight the importance of ideological divisions, value orientations and affective expressions of public opinion driving differential accounts of the socio-political reality, thus confirming the widely acknowledged high levels of polarization in Turkey. A key division emerges around ideological inclinations and values dividing citizens on the basis of their position towards the AK party. Also, the research suggests that more moderate segments of the population converge when it comes to the importance of individual freedoms and rights, the importance of democracy and the coexistence of traditions and modernization. Political sophistication conditions the function of ideology, values, and emotions at the individual level highlighting important differences in the belief systems of high sophisticates and novices.