Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Understanding the emotional act of voting

Nature Human Behaviour volume 1, Article number: 0024 (2017) Cite this article

Subjects

To understand voting behaviour, we must consider voters' emotions and their interaction with electoral arrangements and the complex functions elections serve in democracies. We can then optimize voting via electoral ergonomics — the design of electoral arrangements that consider voters' bodies and minds.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Vote for far right parties among polling station and postal voters by age group in the 2010 UK general elections.
Figure 2: How voting at a polling station or on the internet affects young people's emotions during their first vote.

References

  1. Bruter, M. & Harrison, S. Impact of Brexit on Consumer Behaviour (Opnium, 2016); http://go.nature.com/2gErxoD

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bruter, M. & Harrison, S. in Voting Experiments (eds Blais, A., Laslier, J.-F. & van der Straeten, K. ) 323–333 (Springer, 2017).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cammaerts, B. et al. Youth Participation in Democratic Life: Stories of Hope and Disillusion (Palgrave, 2016).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Rutchick, A. M. Polit. Psychol. 31, 209–225 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Harrison, S. & Bruter, M. Mapping Extreme Right Ideology (Palgrave, 2011).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. Bruter, M. & Harrison, S. Young people, elections, and Europe: between hopes and fears. ECREPhttp://go.nature.com/2gSLCK0 (2016).

  7. Déloye, Y. & Ihl, O. L'acte de vote (Presses de Science Po, 2008).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. Verhulst, B. & Lodge, M. in Political Science Research Methods in Action (eds Bruter, M. & Lodge, M. ) 64–92 (Palgrave, 2013).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. French, J. et al. Physiol. Behav. 133, 61–67 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Bruter, M. and Lodge, M. (eds) Political Science Research Methods in Action (Palgrave, 2013).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael Bruter and Sarah Harrison direct the ECREP initiative at the London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, UK.,

    Michael Bruter & Sarah Harrison

Authors
  1. Michael Bruter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sarah Harrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Bruter.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bruter, M., Harrison, S. Understanding the emotional act of voting. Nat Hum Behav 1, 0024 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-016-0024

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-016-0024

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing