POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, POWER AND PATRIARCHY

CONTRIBUTIONS BY MIRTA GONZÁLEZ SUÁREZ

Abstract

This article presents the results of a bibliographical research on power relations and the issue of patriarchy, analyzed from a psychopolitical approach, based on the work of the Costa Rican social psychologist Mirta González Suárez. Political Psychology – considered by the author as a transversal and multidisciplinary field that studies the inter-influence between decision-making that takes place in power structures and people living in society – is used to define and explain power and patriarchy. For her, power is the ability to influence or decide for another person(s), which can be realized in different spheres: personal, interpersonal relationships, family, community, organized groups and the State. And patriarchy is a social construction in which men and their actions are socially valued more than women, who are oppressed and exploited.