Stressed people are less likely to vote

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/uon-hav062414.php

24-Jun-2014
Contact: John Hibbing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Hormones affect voting behavior, Nebraska researchers find

Study part of ongoing research into the biology of political belief

OMAHA, Neb. – Researchers from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Rice University have released a study that shows hormone levels can affect voter turnout.

As witnessed by recent voter turnout in primary elections, participation in U.S. national elections is low, relative to other western democracies. In fact, voter turnout in biennial national elections ranges includes only 40 to 60 percent of eligible voters.

The study, published June 22 in Physiology and Behavior, reports that while participation in electoral politics is affected by a host of social and demographic variables, there are also biological factors that may play a role, as well. Specifically, the paper points to low levels of the stress hormone cortisol as a strong predictor of actual voting behavior, determined via voting records maintained by the Secretary of State.

A link to the study can be found here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938414002595

"Politics and political participation is an inherently stressful activity," explained the paper's lead author, Jeff French, Varner Professor of Psychology and Biology and director of UNO's neuroscience program. "It would logically follow that those individuals with low thresholds for stress might avoid engaging in that activity and our study confirmed that hypothesis."

Additional authors on the paper are Adam Guck and Andrew K. Birnie from UNO's Department of Psychology; Kevin B. Smith and John R. Hibbing from UNL's Department of Political Science; and John R. Alford from the Department of Political Science at Rice University.

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"Not only did the study show, expectedly, that high-stress activities led to higher levels of cortisol production, but that political participation was significantly correlated with low baseline levels of cortisol," French explained. "Participation in another group-oriented activity, specifically religious participation, was not as strongly associated with cortisol levels. Involvement in nonvoting political activities, such as volunteering for a campaign, financial political contributions, or correspondence with elected officials, was not predicted by levels of stress hormones."

According to the study, the only other factor that was predictive of voting behavior was age; older adults were likely to have voted more often than younger adults. Research from other groups has also pointed to education, income, and race as important predictors of voting behavior.

In explaining why elevated cortisol could be linked with lower rates of participation in elections, French cited previous experiments in which high levels of afternoon cortisol are linked to major depressive disorder, social withdrawal, separation anxiety and enhanced memory for fearful stimuli.

"High afternoon cortisol is reflective of a variety of social, cognitive, and emotional processes, and may also influence a trait as complex as voting behavior," French suggested.

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