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Losing Hurts: The Happiness Impact of Partisan Electoral Loss

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  • Pierce, Lamar
  • Rogers, Todd
  • Snyder, Jason A.

Abstract

Partisan identity shapes social, mental, economic, and physical life. Using a novel dataset, we study the consequences of partisan identity by examining the immediate impact of electoral loss and victory on happiness and sadness. Employing a quasi-experimental regression discontinuity model we present two primary findings. First, elections strongly affect the immediate happiness/sadness of partisan losers, but minimally impact partisan winners. This effect is consistent with psychological research on the good-bad hedonic asymmetry, but appears to dissipate within a week after the election. Second, the immediate happiness consequences to partisan losers are relatively strong. To illustrate, we show that partisans are affected two times more by their party losing the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election than both respondents with children were to the Newtown shootings and respondents living in Boston were to the Boston Marathon bombings. We discuss implications regarding the centrality of partisan identity to the self and its well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierce, Lamar & Rogers, Todd & Snyder, Jason A., 2016. "Losing Hurts: The Happiness Impact of Partisan Electoral Loss," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 44-59, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jexpos:v:3:y:2016:i:01:p:44-59_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Mukhopadhyay, Sankar, 2022. "Elections have (health) consequences: Depression, anxiety, and the 2020 presidential election," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    2. Georgios Kavetsos & Ichiro Kawachi & Ilias Kyriopoulos & Sotiris Vandoros, 2021. "The effect of the Brexit referendum result on subjective well‐being," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(2), pages 707-731, April.
    3. Hervy, Charlotte & Cavalli, Nicolo & Madia, Joan E. & Nicodemo, Catia, 2022. "Diverging mental health after Brexit: Evidence from a longitudinal survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    4. Christan Bjørnskov & Miguel Ángel Borrella‐Mas & Martin Rode, 2022. "The economics of change and stability in social trust: Evidence from (and for) Catalan secession," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 275-297, July.
    5. Maas, Alexander S. & Lu, Liang, 2020. "“Elections have Consequences”: Partisan Politics are Literally Killing Us," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304457, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Robert MacCulloch, 2017. "How political systems and social welfare policies affect well-being: A literature review," Working Papers 17_14, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    7. Busby, Ethan C. & Druckman, James N., 2018. "Football and Public Opinion: A Partial Replication and Extension," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 4-10, April.
    8. Jackson, Jeremy, 2019. "Happy partisans and extreme political views: The impact of national versus local representation on well-being," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 192-202.
    9. Morey, Brittany N. & García, San Juanita & Nieri, Tanya & Bruckner, Tim A. & Link, Bruce G., 2021. "Symbolic disempowerment and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election: Mental health responses among Latinx and white populations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    10. Islam JUSUFI, 2018. "Clientelism and informality in Albania," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 9, pages 133-150, June.
    11. Sergio Pinto & Panka Bencsik & Tuugi Chuluun & Carol Graham, 2021. "Presidential Elections, Divided Politics, and Happiness in the USA," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(349), pages 189-207, January.
    12. Schreiner, Nicolas, 2021. "Changes in Well-Being Around Elections," Working papers 2021/03, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    13. Daniel Gray & Harry Pickard & Luke Munford, 2021. "Election Outcomes and Individual Subjective Wellbeing in Great Britain," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(351), pages 809-837, July.
    14. Miles S. Kimball & Collin B. Raymond & Jiannan Zhou & Junya Zhou & Fumio Ohtake & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2024. "Happiness Dynamics, Reference Dependence, and Motivated Beliefs in U.S. Presidential Elections," NBER Working Papers 32078, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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