Rate My Professor Tereza Capelos

Tereza Capelos is Professor of Political Psychology in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton. She earned her PhD in Political Science with specializations in Political Psychology, Research Methods, and American Politics from Stony Brook University in 2002, where her dissertation examined 'Reputation, Scandal, and the Puzzle of Immunity: The Role of Personality Traits and Party Affiliation.' She received a Fulbright Scholarship and full-time graduate scholarship during her doctoral studies. Capelos also holds an MA in Political Science from Stony Brook University in 1998 and a BA in Political Communication and Mass Media from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1995, graduating with first-class honors.

Her research investigates psychological processes, mechanisms, and dynamics explaining political behavior, focusing on grievance politics, resentful emotionality, reactionary and radical orientations, and their determinants of anti-democratic and authoritarian preferences. She examines uncertainty, anxiety, trust, and empathy as factors in polarization versus cooperation during crises. Capelos is co-editor of the Palgrave Global Handbook in Political Psychology and the Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology series. She co-convenes the Political Psychology Standing Group of the European Consortium for Political Research and served as President of the International Society of Political Psychology. As Co-Principal Investigator, she leads work in Horizon Europe projects PLEDGE and PROTEMO on emotions and grievances in democratic governance. Her publications feature in Political Psychology, Regulation and Governance, Politics and Governance, European Politics and Society, American Behavioral Scientist, and Philosophies. Key works include 'Ressentiment and discontent: political orientations and emotional roots of violence in times of crisis' (2025, European Politics and Society), 'Emotional sensibility and corporate performance in supply chain governance' (2025, Social Responsibility Journal), 'The anti-social triad of grievance politics' (2024, American Behavioral Scientist), and 'Ressentiment in the manosphere' (2024, Philosophies). She accepts PhD students and engages on political psychology topics.