Vote, Vote, Vote!

One in six English adults suffer from depression or anxiety. Since these conditions shape how we think about life, feel about change, and react to events, there is every reason to think that they have political consequences. In this Pint of Science talk, I’ll show those consequences in the Brexit referendum. While those disillusioned with life mostly favoured Leaving, those diagnosed with clinical depression were more likely to vote Remain – reflecting anxiety about the change in prospect. The talk is for anyone who has found themselves wondering about the psychology of their fellow voters...

Public opinion is supposed to determine the outcomes of general elections. It is supposed that individuals have fickle opinions that are determined by irrational feelings. The collective electorate, however, is not moved by such sentiments. Both what the public want from their politicians and how they evaluate their performance are based on the rational responses to real policy and observable conditions. The electorate’s preferences move in the opposite direction to policy and their evaluations of performance decline over time net of all other factors.

Typical research compares migrants to natives in their destination countries and mostly concludes that they are lag behind in almost all measures in our societies. On average, migrants have lower occupational status, lower income and have more traditional values than natives. However, this is not the comparison migrants make. This talk will discuss research that found migrants gain from migration, having more liberal values and attitudes than those left being in origin countries using Turkey as a case study.