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The Influence of Affective States on the Depth of Information Processing

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Politics and Emotions

Abstract

Politics are rife with emotions. During campaigns, candidates frequently use advertisements to induce emotional responses. To evoke negative emotions toward their opponent, candidates pair discordant music with their rivals' policy proposals. When the campaign advertisement transitions to their own policy positions, the music expediently becomes harmonic and soothing. In the 2008 presidential election, the Grand Old Party (GOP) strategy appeared to revolve around anxiety, be it from a threat of another terrorist attack or fears about the impending recession.1 By contrast, the Obama campaign focused on positive emotions, epitomized by the Iconic “Hope” Poster. Given the omnipresence of emotions in politics it is essential to ask how emotional states influence how people think about politics and how these affective states alter the political decisions that people make?

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Authors
  1. Brad Verhulst
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  2. Mary-Kate Lizotte
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Marcos Engelken-Jorge Pedro Ibarra Güell Carmelo Moreno del Río

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Verhulst, B., Lizotte, MK. (2011). The Influence of Affective States on the Depth of Information Processing. In: Engelken-Jorge, M., Güell, P.I., del Río, C.M. (eds) Politics and Emotions. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-93201-9_3

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