A sample of 1,300 American respondents shows a link between reported levels of “life satisfaction” and turnout at elections
fan will admit, supporting your team is agony. Not only must all but one side lose in any competition, but humans seem hard-wired to feel the pain of a loss more keenly than the pleasure of a win. This phenomenon is called “loss aversion” and crops up in many areas of life. Most people would rather forgo the chance of winning $1.10 than risk losing $1. Even capuchin monkeys, it is said, show loss aversion.
Whatever the reason, the impact of happiness on political engagement is substantial. In America it has as big an effect on voting as education does. In both cases, the higher the level the higher the turnout. As with happiness and voting, the Trump effect was substantial. The reduction in Democrats’ current and expected life satisfaction was as large as that which happens when people lose their jobs or get health problems which prevent normal activities. The results cannot be explained away as based on poor data. They are drawn from a large sample and from unusually detailed data by Gallup Healthways, which surveys 15,000 people a month.
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