The influence of perceived positive and negative effects of election polling news on voters’ behaviors through pride and anxiety

ABSTRACT

We investigate how perceived positive and negative effects of polling news are related to political behaviors through emotions. The results of two web-based surveys before and after the 2018 mayoral election in Seoul, South Korea, demonstrate that the perceived positive effect of polling news is indirectly linked to reinforcement of support through pride particularly for supporters of winning candidate. The perceived negative effect of polling news is positively associated with campaign discourse engagement through anxiety. These results suggest that voters’ perceptions about the effects of polling news may have an actual influence on their political behaviors through emotions, and how voters feel about the usefulness of polling news may affect the intensity of their support for the preferred candidate.

KEYWORDS:

• Perceived effects
• polling news
• pride
• anxiety
• campaign discourse
• reinforcement of support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Notes on contributors

Hyunjung Kim

Hyunjung Kim (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is an assistant professor in the Division of Liberal Arts & Science at Korea National Sport University. Her research interests include media effects and social influence.