Emotion, Sophistication and Political Behavior: Evidence From a Laboratory Experiment

Abstract

The way emotions affect political behavior has been a central theme in politics since ancient times, but it is only in the past few decades that it has been the focus of rigorous empirical inquiry. Recent empirical research suggests that emotions may affect different groups of people in distinct ways, but experimental evidence remains scant. Through a double‐blind experiment, this article investigates the degree to which emotions (shame and anger) motivate people with different levels of political sophistication to be more politically active. The findings are two‐fold: (1) Once treated with shame, more sophisticated individuals are more likely to change their political behavior than less sophisticated ones; and (2) once treated with anger, it is people with low levels of prior political involvement who are more likely to report a change in their behavior. The findings highlight the potential of going beyond the existing investigations by adding shame in empirical analyses of how emotions affect behavioral change. The evidence here also shows that different emotions might display different patterns of interaction with sophistication. Practically, the findings point to an emotional venue for the mobilization of citizens who are generally difficult to engage in political life.

Anti‐elite politics and emotional reactions to socio‐economic problems: Experimental evidence on “pocketbook anger” from France, Germany, and the United States

“…Other‐blame and approach motivation differentiate anger from negative self‐conscious emotions, in particular shame, that come with internal attribution and withdrawal tendencies (Keltner & Lerner, 2010). In line with this reasoning, it has been shown to foster political efficacy and participation and the tendency to punish incumbents (Aytaç et al, in press; Jasper, 2018; Lamprianou & Ellinas, 2019; Marcus et al, 2017; Valentino et al, 2011; Wagner, 2014).…”

“…Similar (economic) situations can be appraised by people in different ways, which leads to different emotions and (political) action tendencies (Keltner & Lerner, 2010; Lerner, Li, Valdesolo, & Kassam, 2015; Marcus, Neuman, & MacKuen, 2017). Anger is particularly relevant in this context, because it has the potential to mobilize even disadvantaged or inattentive citizens to participate in politics (Aytaç et al, in press; Lamprianou & Ellinas, 2019; Valentino, Brader, Groenendyk, Gregorowicz, & Hutchings, 2011). Emotions and emotionalized politics can therefore contribute to reducing inequality in political engagement across socio‐economic groups (Anduiza, Guinjoan, & Rico, 2019; Marx & Nguyen, 2018), although this might come at the cost of a more distrusting, superficial, and polarized electorate (Banks & Valentino, 2012; Suhay & Erisen, 2018; Webster, 2018).…”

[Retracted] Sentiment Grading and Evaluation of Network Resources of Ideological and Political Education in Colleges and Universities: A Research Based on Artificial Intelligence

“…However, considering that ideological and political education network resources cannot completely cover all topics, among the influencing factors of acceptance, the main focus is on the object factor, that is, the emotional grading of network resources around ideological and political education. From another point of view, students' specific ideological and political education network resources are also stimulated by certain characteristics hidden in the content of ideological and political education, so it can be said that they also develop stable interests based on text objects [ 22 , 23 ]. First, students' acceptance of ideological and political education network resources (text acceptance—TA) represents the popularity of materials among students—more precisely, students' recognition and preference for materials.…”

Anti-Elite Politics and Emotional Reactions to Socio-Economic Problems. Experimental Evidence on 'Pocketbook Anger' from France, Germany, and the United States

“…Other-blame and approach motivation differentiate anger from negative self-conscious emotions, in particular shame, that come with internal attribution and withdrawal tendencies (Keltner & Lerner, 2010). In line with this reasoning, it has been shown to foster political efficacy and participation and the tendency to punish incumbents (Aytaç et al, in press;Jasper, 2018;Lamprianou & Ellinas, 2019;Marcus et al, 2017;Valentino et al, 2011;Wagner, 2014).…”