Emotions and the Psychology of Politics: How Anger, Anxiety, and Stress Affect Political Preference

This dissertation examines the effect of emotional arousal on political preferences. For a long time, voters were seen as rational agents who try to maximize their welfare, and the importance of emotions in the political decision-making process was largely dismissed. However, in recent years, there has not only been an increased awareness that voters do not always act rationally, but the rise in emotional political rhetoric has made it almost impossible to ignore the effects of affective politics. Despite the recognition that emotions influence political behavior, there is still little understanding of the mechanisms through which emotional arousal affects voter preferences. This dissertation contributes to the literature by studying the behavioral effects of three negative-valence emotions: anger, anxiety, and stress. Negative emotions have been particularly prevalent in global politics, especially with the rise of right-wing populist parties. Furthermore, politics has increasingly been framed not just as a competition among groups who represent people's class or values, but as an ongoing battle against imminent, omnipresent threats. For example, in his 2018 'State of the Union' address, U.S. president Donald Trump referred to the challenges posed by rogue regimes and terrorist groups, the war against the American energy sector, and "the menace that threatens our world". Such rhetoric may trigger emotional arousal among voters, with potentially meaningful behavioral effects. The three studies presented in this dissertation look at different aspects of such emotional arousal. Study 1: The Angry Voter -- The Role of Emotion Regulation in Politics examines whether the choice of, and response to, emotional media content is associated with traits that determine how people regulate their emotional arousal. The study shows that liberals and conservatives differ with respect to the emotion regulation traits that predict if someone chooses anger media content, which may explain why they also have distinct emotional and behavioral responses to that content. Study 2: Don't be so Shocked -- Anxiety Affects the Redistribution of Economic Resources Among Groups examines the role of anticipatory anxiety on economic decision-making. Subjects were asked to play economic games with people who belong to the same social group (the in-group) or a different social group (the out-group) while receiving electrical impulses to their wrist. The study shows that individuals make lower monetary offers to out-group members and when they are anxious -- but only if their partners have no bargaining power. The findings also suggest that the effect of anxiety and group membership depends on political ideology. Liberals generally make smaller monetary offers under threat and when playing against out-group members. Conservatives offer more to out-group members in the absence of a threat but significantly less when anxious. Study 3: When Disaster Strikes -- Early Childhood Stress Predicts Adult Political Behavior examines the long-term effects of stress exposure during early childhood, which is a sensitive period of neural development. The study leverages a natural experiment to test whether stress exposure early in childhood is associated with adult political behavior. The findings indicate that individuals who are exposed to stressors early in life are more likely to register with the Democratic Party when they first register to vote. The dissertation concludes with a synthesis chapter that highlights the interplay of personality traits and predisposition, emotional arousal, preference over politically-charged stimuli, and the voters' environment, which is referred to as the "Cyclical Model of Affective Politics". This model emphasizes that there exists a feedback loop where a change at any of the four levels can impact the other elements, eventually resulting in more political polarization. Hence, in order to understand the behavioral effects of affective politics, one has to study the interplay of these elements.