Cortisol and politics: variance in voting behavior is predicted by baseline cortisol levels.
Participation in electoral politics is affected by a host of social and demographics variables, but there is growing evidence that biological predispositions may also play a role in behavior related to political involvement. We examined the role of individual variation in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress axis parameters in explaining differences in self-reported and actual participation in political activities. Self-reported political activity, religious participation, and verified voting activity in U.S. national elections were collected from 105 participants, who were subsequently exposed to a standardized (nonpolitical) psychosocial stressor. We demonstrated that lower baseline salivary cortisol in the late afternoon was significantly associated with increased actual voting frequency in six national elections, but not with self-reported non-voting political activity. Baseline cortisol predicted significant variation in voting behavior above and beyond variation accounted for by traditional demographic variables (particularly age of participant in our sample). Participation in religious activity was weakly (and negatively) associated with baseline cortisol. Our results suggest that HPA-mediated characteristics of social, cognitive, and emotional processes may exert an influence on a trait as complex as voting behavior, and that cortisol is a better predictor of actual voting behavior, as opposed to self-reported political activity.
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182, USA. Electronic address: jfrench@unomaha.edu.
Jeffrey A
JA
French
Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1400 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
Kevin B
KB
Smith
Department of Political Science, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
John R
JR
Alford
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182, USA.
Adam
A
Guck
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182, USA.
Andrew K
AK
Birnie
Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1400 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
John R
JR
Hibbing
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019540:Area Under Curve; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011057:Politics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012067:Religion; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States
D006854:Hydrocortisone
Cortisol; Politics; Stress; Voting behavior