Harris or Trump? The psychology behind how voters choose a candidate.

Election day is almost here, and with razor-thin margins There are many uncertainties between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. That causes election anxiety among voters, candidates and political experts: Will we get results on election night?? How will the main states – and provinces – ultimately skinny?

It really all comes down to our obsession with what voters think; what exactly happens in someone’s brain when that voter decides who to vote for – or even whether to vote at all? Believe it or not, political psychologists say it probably has less to do with what they think and a lot more to do with what they think. feeling.

Why do people vote at all?

When November 5th arrives, there are a few things I can do. I could enjoy it autumn weather and foliage; I could work my way through it Kelsey Weekman’s list of shows and movies I have to look; I could eat my kid’s Halloween candy. Why do I and millions of other Americans choose to go to the polls?

• It is a form of self-expression. Keith Humphreysprofessor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, says there is no rational reason to vote for president. “There are more than 100 million people voting, so the chance that your vote, my vote, or any other individual vote will win the election is essentially zero,” he tells Yahoo Life. Instead, Humphreys says the most likely reason people do it is as a form of self-expression. “It’s the same reason why people sometimes look at protests and say, ‘That’s not going to convince anyone.’ But the point is not to persuade; it is expressing yourself.”

• It’s a habit. Christopher M. Federicopresident of the International Society of Political Psychology, tells Yahoo Life that regular voters have a few characteristics in common: they tend to be well-educated and “have more social resources,” and they tend to pay more attention to politics. But what really drives people to vote, Federico says, is that it’s just something they have become a habit to do. “You’re more likely to do it the more times you’ve done it in the past, and the more it feels like something you normally do when there are elections,” Federico says about voting.

• Voters want to show solidarity – even with people they don’t know. “Ultimately, voting choices are determined less by ‘what’s going on in people’s minds’ than by what makes them feel connected to a candidate or to others who support a candidate,” says Tania Israel, a psychologist and author of Facing the Rift: How to Deal with the Challenges of Living in a Divided Nationtells Yahoo Life. “In addition to aligning based on issues and values, they may be driven to vote with their party to satisfy the desire for belonging and group cohesion.” Federico says partisan identity has become “stronger and more crystallized” over the past thirty years, meaning whether you identify as Democrat or Republican is now an even stronger predictor of which candidate you will choose.

What about ‘undecided voters’? What’s going through their minds when they finally make a decision?

This is evident from reporting from the New York Timesonly 3.7%, or 1.2 million people, were still undecided a few weeks ago. The Times’ analysis, along with that of the Harris and Trump campaigns, describes these undecided voters as mostly younger voters, people of color and those without college degrees. So when these undecided voters finally make a decision, what influences them?

• They are more likely to be influenced by emotions and by the people around them. Experts say voting is driven by emotion for most voters — and especially for those who haven’t yet made up their minds. “Impartial, undecided or uninvolved voters have less political knowledge and make their decisions later in the election cycle,” Israel says. “Their decisions may be based on the likes of candidates, the influence of those around them and emotions such as hope and fear.”

• They’re more likely to make a decision based on what’s happening in the news cycle when they cast their votes. We all know the ‘October surprises’, where important news or an event occurs at the last minute that has a major impact on an election. A memorable example is when then-FBI Director James Comey announced his investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails; then, her lead over Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election narrowed. “In some cases it will depend on what is striking at a certain moment or is at the top of the social agenda,” says Federico. “What happens in the last few news cycles right before an election can have a disproportionate effect on people who are in this position of being decisive voters.”

Why do some people vote ‘against their own interests’?

Many Americans are often accused of “working against their own interests” when it comes to a number of issues, from abortion rights to the economy. So why do they do it?

• They have different interests than you. “When people often say, ‘They are voting against their interests,’ it often just means that they are voting against something You think this is their interest,” says Humphreys. “But the way they look at it is, ‘I don’t really care; I care about this. ”

• They vote for moral or ideological interests, not economic interests. As a political commentator Fareed Zakaria observedMore research shows that many people are more likely to vote for emotional, ideological and moral reasons than for monetary gain. Humphreys and Israel both point out that both Republican and Democratic voters are known to vote against their own economic interests, but whether that is good or bad is often framed differently depending on which voter you are talking about.

“I hear this question — mostly from people on the political left — and wonder why working-class people vote for Republicans, who are less likely to support unions and who tend to vote for tax breaks for wealthy Americans,” says Israel . “I often point out that wealthy Democrats, based solely on financial gain, also vote against their interests in favor of their values.”

Humphreys adds: “It is very common to denigrate working class and poor people for ‘voting against their interests’. But when rich people vote for higher taxes, everyone praises them and says, “How generous! How public!’ Well, they just voted against their interests. Is that bad or is that good? When one’s decision is in line with us positions, we are likely to find it commendable if they vote in accordance with their values ​​– even if this conflicts with personal gain.”

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