Electoral Psychology

The Psychology of Voters in Elections

Michael Bruter Sarah Harrison

The Psychology of Voters Outline of Presentation 

Voters’ electoral memory, responsibility and emotions associated with the vote



What do citizens think about when they stand in the polling booth?



Impact of electoral arrangements on electoral vote and voters’ perceptions of elections



A first attempt to explain participation and voting choice and conclusions

Guiding research questions 

What do people think about when they stand in the polling booth?



What is the impact of electoral memory, sense responsibility, and individual-societal connection on electoral behaviour?



What are the emotions associated by citizens with the voting experience?



What is the impact of electoral arrangements on the psychological processes mobilised during the vote and how does it impact voting behaviour?



Can we identify some atheoretical but startling relations between voting behaviour and preferences or characteristics of voters?

Methodology  Case

selection: the countries

 Case

selection: types of elections

 Research

design: multi-wave panel surveys, interviews, spot-interviews, experiments etc.

Remembering elections 

Voters remember past elections, including childhood electoral experiences



Some of these memories are very ‘physical’ – impact of station location, arrangement, atmosphere



Memories of problems (fraud, shock result, queues or organisational problems) are always very vivid



Other memories are very individualised (individual discussions, arguments, etc)

Memorable elections (UK 2010) A lot/fair amount

A little

Nothing

2005

53.0

30.5

16.5

1997

47.5

28.1

24.4

First time

35.8

37.1

27.1

2009 EP

35.2

34.7

30.1

Childhood

20.9

33.9

45.2

1979

25.4

22.2

52.4

Elections and Emotions 

Voting is a highly emotional act!



Voters attach various positive and negative emotions to the act of voting.



Many of these emotions are positive, including (in order) feeling of importance (for the country and oneself), pride, excitement, closeness to fellow citizens and even happiness.



However, they also include negative emotions such as worry and pessimism.

Emotions associated with the act of voting Neither Bored

13.6

47.8

38.7

Excited

Sad

5.5

61.1

33.4

Happy

Worried

19.2

64.1

16.7

Reassured

Nervous

16.7

44.4

38.9

Relaxed

Pessimistic

36.4

42.7

30.8

Optimistic

Ashamed

4.4

52.6

43.0

Proud

Emotions and voting mode 

Emotions are significantly more positive for people who go to vote in person as compared to those who use postal voting. They feel prouder, happier, and more excited about the vote than those who use postal voting.



Moreover, voters in person also end up feeling more reassured and more relaxed than those who use postal voting.

Emotions, vote, voting mode 10 8 6 Vote in Person Postal Vote

4 2 0 Emotion Index

Serenity Index

Specific emotions attached to the vote 8 7 6 5 Vote in person Postal vote

4 3 2 1 0 IMC

IMP

PRI

EXC HAP CLO CAL

OPT

REA

IMC: Importance for coutry, IMP: Personal importance, PRI: Pride, EXC: Excitement, HAP: Happiness, CLO: Closeness to fellow countrymen, CAL: Calm, OPT: Optimism, REA: Reassurance

Thoughts in the polling booth % who thought of it Responsibility

78.8

Possible prime ministers

66.6

Constituency candidate

65.4

Vote of the rest of the country

61

‘Historical’ moment

51.8

Previous election

39.1

Family

38.8

Discussion about the election

37.2

Emotional thought

31.9

Happy thought

31.1

Some previous election

29

Something from the debates

28.9

Campaign message

28.2

Angry thought

25

Argument about the election

14.1

Campaign image

13.1

Next Steps… 

Are the results verified in the context of advance voting? (Australia)



How about the impact on electronic voting – experiments



Consequences in terms of voting arrangements, voters and children education, campaign organisation, etc.

Forthcoming elections Already conducted: Australia (2010), Sweden (2010), UK referendum (2011) And forthcoming…: New Zealand November 2011 (election + referendum) Russia January 2012 France May 2012 United States November 2012 Germany 2013 Israel 2013 … any many more Watch this space!!