Elections are bad for your health.
More than half of Americans, independently of their party preference, are stressed about upcoming elections (see this August 2016 survey of over 3.5 thousand adults conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of American Psychological Association). Especially the oldest and the youngest voters (Traditionalists and Millennials). Social media is one of the major factors making this stress even worse.
Election stress is higher than we think - judging by cortisol levels in saliva versus self-reported emotional distress. Stress is high at the ballot box - higher than when voting at home by mail-in ballot and significantly higher than on an average day and a few days after the election - unless we strongly dislike post-election media coverage.
More than half of Americans, independently of their party preference, are stressed about upcoming elections (see this August 2016 survey of over 3.5 thousand adults conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of American Psychological Association). Especially the oldest and the youngest voters (Traditionalists and Millennials). Social media is one of the major factors making this stress even worse.
Election stress is higher than we think - judging by cortisol levels in saliva versus self-reported emotional distress. Stress is high at the ballot box - higher than when voting at home by mail-in ballot and significantly higher than on an average day and a few days after the election - unless we strongly dislike post-election media coverage.
Elections may cause anxiety, obsessive compulsive behavior and even depression. And then there are post-election blues. Stock market always performs weaker. Supporters of the winning candidate go through withdrawal pains, although, research shows, they might get more interested in the Internet porn. Supporters of a losing candidate move through sadness and decreased levels of testosterone.
Yet, anxiety can sharpen our eyes and help us learn.
To vote is like the payment of a debt (R.B. Hayes, 19th US president). One who does not vote has no right to complain (novelist Louis L'Amour). Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost (John Quincy Adams, 6th US president)
And no matter what happens, we should not feel powerless for we actually possess more power than ever before to control our own lives and make them what we want to be.
Yet, anxiety can sharpen our eyes and help us learn.
To vote is like the payment of a debt (R.B. Hayes, 19th US president). One who does not vote has no right to complain (novelist Louis L'Amour). Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost (John Quincy Adams, 6th US president)
And no matter what happens, we should not feel powerless for we actually possess more power than ever before to control our own lives and make them what we want to be.
REFERENCES
Stanton SJ, Beehner JC, Saini EK, Kuhn CM, & Labar KS (2009). Dominance, politics, and physiology: voters' testosterone changes on the night of the 2008 United States presidential election. PloS one, 4 (10) PMID: 19844583
Markey, P., & Markey, C. (2011). Pornography-seeking behaviors following midterm political elections in the United States: A replication of the challenge hypothesis Computers in Human Behavior, 27 (3), 1262-1264 DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2011.01.007
Waismel-Manor I, Ifergane G, & Cohen H (2011). When endocrinology and democracy collide: emotions, cortisol and voting at national elections. European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 21 (11), 789-95 PMID: 21482457
Blanton, H., Strauts, E., & Perez, M. (2012). Partisan Identification as a Predictor of Cortisol Response to Election News Political Communication, 29 (4), 447-460 DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2012.736239
Neiman J, Giuseffi K, Smith K, French J, Waismel-Manor I, & Hibbing J (2015). Voting at Home Is Associated with Lower Cortisol than Voting at the Polls. PloS one, 10 (9) PMID: 26335591
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