Losing Elections' Effects on Political and Social Attitudes and Subjective Well-being: Most effects are bigger for those with strong partisan attachments, some are bigger for men

Toshkov, Dimiter, and Honorata Mazepus. 2020. “Winning and Losing Democratic Elections: Effects on Political and Social Attitudes and Subjective Well-being.” OSF Preprints. December 14. doi:10.31219/osf.io/j9dty

Abstract: In democracies, losing free and fair elections is a normal part of politics, and the consent of losers is needed for the survival of democratic government itself. But being on the losing side of the electoral contest can trigger important changes in the political and social attitudes, and even in the life outlook and subjective well-being of citizens. Based on individual-level survey data from 25 European countries and two time periods (2012 and 2018), we show that there is a significant gap between people who have voted for the parties in government and the losers of democratic elections when it comes to a wide set of political attitudes, including political trust, perceived efficacy and importance of government responsiveness and perceptions about how politics and government work. We also find that the gap between winners and losers extends to social trust, country attachment, feeling happy, healthy, safe, and optimistic, life satisfaction and perceived place in society. Most of these effects are greater in new democracies and for citizens with strong partisan attachments, some are bigger for men, and many are mediated by satisfaction with the government. Losing elections is hard for politics, but it could also be hard for the soul.