Showing posts with label impact of emotions on electoral behaviour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label impact of emotions on electoral behaviour. Show all posts

The Emotions of Politics

Emotions  are  a  set  of  physiological  and  psychological  changes  within  the  body  and  brain which  come  as  a response  to  external,  situational  stimuli  (Damasio,  1994;  Lazarus,  1991; LeDoux,  1996;  Marcus,  2002;  Marcus, Neuman, & MacKuen, 2000).

The impact of emotions on electoral behaviour has been shown in a number of studies (Abelson, Kinder, Peters, &  Fiske,  1982;  Conover  &  Feldman,  1986;  Kinder  &  Sears,  1985;  Simon,  1985),  but  a  systematic  theory  of  the political relevance of emotion has only recently been formulated by George Marcus and colleagues; it is referred to as the Theory of Affective Intelligence  (1993, 2000). The theory is based on the neuropsychological approach to  emotions developed by Damasio (1994) and LeDoux (1996).

The  disposition  system  is  responsible  for  “managing  reliance  on  habits  and  previously  learned  strategies” (Marcus, 2002, p. 46).  Relying on sensory information, it performs a comparison: is the plan going as usual? If it is the habit is continued and the emotional reaction is enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm has been shown to stimulate the increase of the turnout intention. 

When you want to quit playing around with sticks and balls, and get into the serious areas of Aggressive Persuasion, this is the area you start in. 

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