Elections have Consequences: Partisan Politics may be Literally Killing Us

A Review on the Psychological Reactions after a Presidential Election

“…In a study by Maas (2020), researchers aimed to estimate the relationship between mortality rates and community support for the losing presidential candidate that is called a "partisan loss." The study shows that there is an increase in mortality rates among individuals whose political affiliation is that of the losing candidate.…”

County-level political group density, partisan polarization, and individual-level mortality among adults in the United States: A lagged multilevel study

“…Research on the health effects of elections and associated partisanship has burgeoned in the last decade, first emerging after the 2008 U.S. Presidential election ( Classen, 2009 ; Stanton et al, 2010 ; Waismel-Manor et al, 2011 ). Since then, studies have documented a range of negative biobehavioral health consequences of elections including increases in poor health ( Fraser et al, 2022 ; Nelson, 2022 ), rising cortisol levels ( Stanton et al, 2010 ; Waismel-Manor et al, 2011 ), increases in the incidence of mental health conditions such as stress, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and suicide ( Anýž et al, 2019 ; Classen, 2009 ; Hagan et al, 2020 ; Hoyt et al, 2018 ; Nayak et al, 2021 ), elevated blood pressure ( Hwang et al, 2022 ), increases in the onset of cardiac arrhythmias and acute cardiovascular disease ( Mefford et al, 2022 ; Rosman et al, 2021 ), and increases in all-cause mortality ( Maas & Lu, 2020 ). Given that issues such as immigration, foreign policy, welfare, taxes, racism, and marriage equality have historically been important during elections ( Dao, 2004 ; Newport, 2008 ; O’Connor, 2001 ; Yau, 2004 ), the impacts might be particularly salient for marginalized communities which tend to be deeply impacted by the policy effects of partisan changes.…”

Health and Election Outcomes: Evidence from the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

“…This lacuna is especially important given how emotionally-charged and contentious the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath were (Weinschenk, van der Linden, and Panagopoulos 2021). Second, studies on the influence of elections on health typically focus on one dimension or measure of health (e.g., Maas and Lu 2021; Neupert, Bellingtier, and Smith 2021; Yan, Hsia, Yeung, and Sloan 2021; Rosman et al 2021). Here, our interest is in understanding whether the 2020 election influenced two different dimensions of health—changes in self-reported mental and general health.…”