Young adults’ psychological and physiological reactions to the 2016 U.S. presidential election

Lindsay T. Hoyt, Katharine H. Zeiders, Natasha Chaku, Russell B. Toomey, Rajni L. Nair

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Elections present unique opportunities to study how sociopolitical events influence individual processes. The current study examined 286 young adults’ mood and diurnal cortisol responses to the 2016 U.S. presidential election in real-time: two days before the election, election night, and two days after the election of Donald Trump, with the goal of understanding whether (and the extent to which) the election influenced young adults’ affective and biological states. Utilizing piecewise trajectory analyses, we observed high, and increasing, negative affect leading up to the election across all participants. Young adults who had negative perceptions of Trump's ability to fulfill the role of president and/or were part of a non-dominant social group (i.e., women, ethnic/racial minority young adults) reported increased signs of stress before the election and on election night. After the election, we observed a general “recovery” in self-reported mood; however, diurnal cortisol indicators suggested that there was an increase in biological stress among some groups. Overall, findings underscore the role of macro-level factors in individuals’ health and well-being via more proximal attitudes and physiological functioning.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)162-169
Number of pages8
JournalPsychoneuroendocrinology
Volume92
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2018

Keywords

  • Cortisol
  • Negative affect
  • Positive affect
  • Stress
  • Trajectory analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Endocrinology
  • Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Biological Psychiatry

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