Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-9nwgx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-20T06:20:38.993Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anxiety, Enthusiasm, and the Vote: The Emotional Underpinnings of Learning and Involvement During Presidential Campaigns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

George E. Marcus  and
Michael B. MacKuen
George E. Marcus
Affiliation:
Williams College
Michael B. MacKuen
Affiliation:
University of Missouri, St. Louis
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

By incorporating emotionality, we propose to enrich information-processing models of citizens' behavior during election campaigns. We demonstrate that two distinct dynamic emotional responses play influential roles during election campaigns: anxiety and enthusiasm. Anxiety, responding to threat and novelty, stimulates attention toward the campaign and political learning and discourages reliance on habitual cues for voting. Enthusiasm powerfully influences candidate preferences and stimulates interest and involvement in the campaign. The findings support a theoretical perspective that regards cognitive and emotional processes as mutually engaged and mutually supportive rather than as antagonistic. We suggest that the democratic process may not be undermined by emotionality as is generally presupposed. Instead, we believe that people use emotions as tools for efficient information processing and thus enhance their abilities to engage in meaningful political deliberation.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 87 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 672 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abelson, Robert P., Kinder, Donald R., Peters, Mark D., and Fiske, Susan T.. 1982. “Affective and Semantic Components in Political Personal Perception.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 42:619–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ax, Albert. 1953. “The Physiological Differentiation between Fear and Anger in Humans.” Psychosomatic Medicine 15:433–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brady, Henry, and Sniderman, Paul. 1985. “Attitude Attribution: A Group Basis for Political Reasoning.” American Political Science Review 79:1061–78.Google Scholar
Brent, E., and Granberg, D.. 1982. “Subjective Agreement with the Presidential Candidates of 1976 and 1980.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 42:393–403.Google Scholar
Bruce, John M. 1991. “Emotion and Evaluation in Nomination Politics.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, John T., Petty, Richard E., Losch, Mary E. and Kim, Hai-sook. 1986. “Electromyographic Activity over Facial Muscle Regions Can Differentiate the Valence and Intensity of Affective Reactions.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 50:260–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Converse, Philip E. 1962. “Information Flow and the Stability of Partisan Attitudes.” Public Opinion Quarterly 26:578–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derryberry, Douglas. 1991. “The Immediate Effects of Positive and Negative Feedback Signals.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61:267–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diener, Ed, and Emmons, Robert A.. 1985. “The Independence of Positive and Negative Affect.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47:1105–17.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Eccles, John C. 1989. Evolution of the Brain: Creation of the Self. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Edelman, Murray. 1964. The Symbolic Uses of Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Enelow, James M., and Hinich, Melvin J.. 1984. The Spatial Theory of Voting: An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fonberg, Elzbieta. 1986. “Amygdala, Emotions, Motivation, and Depressive States.” In Emotion: Theory, Research, and Experience, ed. Plutchik, R. and Kellerman, H.. London: Academic.Google Scholar
Fowles, Don C. 1980. “The Three Arousal Model: Implications of Gray's Two-Factor Learning Theory for Heart Rate, Electrodermal Activity, and Psychopathy.” Psychophysiology 17:87–104.Google Scholar
Granberg, D., and Brent, E.. 1974. “Dove-Hawk Placements in the 1968 Election: Application of Social Judgment and Balance Theories.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 29:687–95.Google Scholar
Gray, Jeffrey A. 1981. “The Psychophysiology of Anxiety.” In Dimensions of Personality, ed. Lynn, R.. New York: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Gray, Jeffrey A. 1987a. “The Neuropsychology of Emotion and Personality.” In Cognitive Neurochemistry, ed. Stahl, S. M., Iversen, S. D., and Goodman, E. C.. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gray, Jeffrey A. 1987b. The Psychology of Fear and Stress. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Heider, Fritz. 1958. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R. 1978. “Political Person Perception: The Asymmetrical Influence of Sentiment and Choice on Perceptions of Presidential Candidates.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 36:859–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., and Kiewiet, D. R.. 1979. “Economic Grievances and Political Behavior: The Role of Personal Discontents and Collective Judgements in Congressional Voting.” American Journal of Political Science 23:495–527.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R., Peters, Mark D., Abelson, Robert R., and Fiske, Susan T.. 1980. “Presidential Prototypes.” Political Behavior 2:315–38.Google Scholar
King, Gary. 1986. “How Not To Lie with Statistics: Avoiding Common Mistakes in Quantitative Political Science.” American Journal of Political Science 30:666–87.Google Scholar
Larsen, Randy, Diener, Ed, and Cropanzano, Russell. 1987. “Cognitive Operations Associated with Individual Differences in Affect Intensity.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53:767–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazarus, Richard. 1982. “Thoughts on the Relations of Emotion and Cognition.” American Psychologist 37:1019–24.Google Scholar
Lazarus, Richard. 1984. “On the Primacy of Cognition.” American Psychologist 39:124–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, Richard, Opton, Edward, Nomikos, Markellos, and Rankin, Neil. 1965. “The Principle of Short-circuiting of Threat: Further Evidence.” Journal of Personality 33:622–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewicki, Pawel. 1986. Nonconscious Social Information Processing. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Luskin, Robert C. 1987. “Measuring Political Sophistication.” American Journal of Political Science 31:856–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luskin, Robert C. 1991. “ Abusus non tollit usum: Standardized Coefficients, Correlations, and R2s.” American Journal of Political Science 35:1032–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKuen, Michael. 1987. “Political Emotion and the Structuring of Political Cognition.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago.Google Scholar
Marcus, George E. 1988a. “Democratic Theories and the Study of Public Opinion.” Polity 21:25–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, George E. 1988b. “The Structure of Emotional Response: 1984 Presidential Candidates.” American Political Science Review 82:735–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, George E. 1991. “Emotions and Politics: Hot Cognitions and the Rediscovery of Passion.” Social Science Information 30:195–232.Google Scholar
Marcus, George E., MacKuen, Michael, and Glassberg, Andrew D.. 1989. “The Role of Emotional Response in Presidential Campaign Dynamics: Excitement and Threat.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Atlanta.Google Scholar
Marcus, George E., and Rahn, Wendy. 1990. “Emotions and Democratic Politics.” In Research in Micropolitics, ed. Long, S.. JAI Press.Google Scholar
Markus, Gregory B. 1982. “Political Attitudes during an Election Year: A Report on the 1980 NES Panel Study.” American Political Science Review 76:538–60.Google Scholar
Markus, Gregory B. 1986. “Stability and Change in Political Attitudes: Observed, Recalled, and ‘Explained.’” Political Behavior 8:21–44.Google Scholar
Markus, Gregory B., and Converse, Philip E.. 1979. “A Dynamic Simultaneous Equations Model of Electoral Choice.” American Political Science Review 73:1055–70.Google Scholar
Masters, Roger D., and Sullivan, Denis G.. 1989. “Nonverbal Displays and Political Leadership in France and the United States.” Political Behavior 11:123–56.Google Scholar
Mayer, John D., and Gaschke, Yvonne N.. 1988. “The Experience and Meta-experience of Mood.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55:102–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayer, John D., Salovey, Peter, Gomberg-Kaufman, Susan, and Blainey, Kathleen. 1991. “A Broader Conception of Mood Experience.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 60:100–11.Google Scholar
Miibrath, Lester W., and Goel, M. L.. 1977. Political Participation, 2nd ed. Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur H., Miller, Warren E., Raine, Alden S., and Brown, Thad A.. 1976. “A Majority Party in Disarray: Policy Polarization and the 1972 Presidential Election.” American Political Science Review 70:753–78.Google Scholar
Miller, Warren E. 1991. “Party Identification, Realignment, and Party Voting: Back to the Basics.” American Political Science Review 85:557–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Warren E., and Shanks, J. Merrill. 1982. “Policy Directions and Presidential Leadership: Alternative Interpretations of the 1980 Presidential Election.” British Journal of Political Science 12:299–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neuman, Russell. 1986. The Paradox of Mass Politics: Knowledge and Opinion in the American Electorate. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Nie, Norman H., Verba, Sidney, and Petrocik, John R.. 1976. The Changing American Voter. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Plutchik, Robert. 1980. Emotion: A Psychoevolutionary Synthesis. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Pratto, Felicia, and John, Oliver P.. 1991. “Automatic Vigi-lance: The Attention-grabbing Power of Negative Social Information.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61:380–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowitz, George, and MacDonald, Stuart Elaine. 1989. “A Directional Theory of Issue Voting.” American Political Science Review 83:93–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenberg, Milton J., and Abelson, Robert P.. 1960. “An Analysis of Cognitive Balancing.” In Attitude Organization and Change, ed. Rosenberg, M. J., Abelson, R. P., and Brehm, J. W.. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Russell, James A. 1980. “A Circumplex Model of Affect.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39:1161–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattschneider, E. E. 1960. The Semi-sovereign People. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.Google Scholar
Sears, David O. 1990. “Symbolic Politics: A Socio-psychological Analysis.” Presented at the annual scientific meetings of the International Society of Political Psychology, Washington.Google Scholar
Sears, David O., Hensler, Carl, and Speer, Leslie. 1979. “Whites' Opposition to “Busing”: Self-Interest or Symbolic Politics?” American Political Science Review 73:369–85.Google Scholar
Sears, David O., Lau, Richard R., Tyler, Tom R., and Allen, Harris M. Jr., 1980. “Self-Interest Versus Symbolic Politics in Policy Attitudes and Presidential Voting.” American Political Science Review 74:670–84.Google Scholar
Simon, Herbert. 1967. “Motivational and Emotional Controls of Cognition.” Psychological Review 74:29–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Storm, Christine, and Storm, Tom. 1987. “A Taxonomic Study of the Vocabulary of Emotions.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53:805–16.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Dennis, and Masters, Roger. 1988. “Happy Warriors: Leaders' Facial Displays, Viewers Emotions, and Political Support.” American Journal of Political Science 32:345–68.Google Scholar
Taylor, Shelley E. 1991. “Asymmetrical Effects of Positive and Negative Events: The Mobilization-Minimization Hypothesis.” Psychological Bulletin 110:67–85.Google Scholar
Tellegen, Auke. 1985. “Structures of Mood and Personality and Their Relevance to Assessing Anxiety, with an Emphasis on Self-Report.” In Anxiety and the Anxiety Disorders, ed. Tuma, A. H. and Maser, J. D.. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Tichenor, P. J., Donohue, G. A., and Olien, C. N.. 1970. “Mass Media Flow and Differential Growth in Knowledge.” Public Opinion Quarterly 34:159–70.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, and Nie, Norman H.. 1972. Participation in American: Political Democracy and Social Equality. New York-Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Watson, David, Clark, Lee Anna, and Tellegen, Auke. 1988. “Development and Validation of Brief Measures of Positive and Negative Affect: The PANAS Scales.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54:1063–70.Google Scholar
Watson, David, and Tellegen, Auke. 1985. “Toward a Consensual Structure of Mood.” Psychological Bulletin 98:219–35.Google Scholar
Zajonc, Robert B. 1980. “Feeling and Thinking: Preferences Need No Inferences.” American Psychologist 39:151–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zajonc, Robert B. 1982. “On the Primacy of Affect.” American Psychologist 39:117–23.Google Scholar
Zevon, Michael, and Tellegen, Auke. 1982. “The Structure of Mood Change: An Ideographic/Nomothetic Analysis.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 43:111–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.