History of the Lab

Before the idea of the lab came into existence, it was precedent with the idea to expand psychological studies in terms of political behavior. The concern for this issue surfaced when Prof. Hamdi Muluk (He was not a Professor at that time) was given an opportunity to give a speech in Faculty of Psychology Dies Natalis in 1999. From that moment, the Faculty began to make a way for studies and researches in political behavior area.

Hamdi Muluk were given the opportunity to open classes and courses around Political Psychology issues. Beside that, the responsibilities were all on him to conduct and develop studies in Political Psychology area. Through gains and obstacles, it was not before 2008 that Political Psychology Laboratory was finally founded.

One of the first external project of the Lab was to collaborate with Metro TV. Together, they create a limited series to explore, analyse, and compare traits, personalities, and virtues of presidential candidates in 2009 General Election (Pemilu 2009). From there, the Lab gained exposure especially to the government.

Another breakthrough in 2011, the Lab with stakeholders from government and private sectors, held a national symposium in terms of eradication of radicalization and terrorism. This event opened a new opportunity and main focus of the lab to expand their studies on terrorism issues. It was by this event that witness the born of new government agency to counter terrorism and radicalism issues. Until now, people know the agency by the name of Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Terorisme (National Agency for Combating Terrorism).

Today, the Lab is still going on as the main center of political behavior studies in the University of Indonesia, and even for the country itself. The Lab also supports the Faculty lecturers and students to expand their knowledge and research in terms of Political Psychology area. The collaboration with the government is still going strong, with BNPT as one of the main collaborators. Currently, the projects of the Lab are focusing in radicalization and terrorism intervention, study of ideology, and analyses on collective action.