Political differences in past, present, and future life satisfaction: Republicans are more sensitive than democrats to political climate

Previous research finds that Republicans report being happier or more satisfied with their lives than Democrats. Using representative American samples from 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010, we tested a Person × Situation interactionist account in which political affiliation (Democrat, Republican) an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-06, Vol.9 (6), p.e98854-e98854
Main Authors: Mandel, David R, Omorogbe, Philip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Biology and Life Sciences
Climate
Conservatism
Election results
Female
Happiness
Humans
Hypotheses
Ideology
Liberalism
Life satisfaction
Male
Meta-analysis
Personal Satisfaction
Political identity
Political parties
Politics
Power
Presidents
Psychological factors
Quality of life
R&D
Research & development
Social Sciences
Socioeconomic Factors
System theory
United States
Well being
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Summary:Previous research finds that Republicans report being happier or more satisfied with their lives than Democrats. Using representative American samples from 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010, we tested a Person × Situation interactionist account in which political affiliation (Democrat, Republican) and political climate (favorable when the president in office is of the same party) are proposed to affect past, present, and anticipated future life satisfaction. Meta-analyses of related tests of key hypotheses confirmed that (a) life satisfaction was greater when the political climate was favorable rather than unfavorable and (b) Republicans were more sensitive to political climate than Democrats. As predicted, Republicans also were more politically polarized than Democrats. Taken together, the findings indicate that, compared to Democrats, Republicans are more apt to self-identify in political terms, and core aspects of their subjective well-being are more easily affected by the outcome of political events.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0098854