By Melissa Baker 

Stressed over politics? You are certainly not alone. Approximately 40% of people report feeling stressed because of politics. About 10 to 30% of people report feeling negative physical, social and emotional consequences as a result of politics.

These numbers are even higher for people who discuss politics frequently.

Research has started uncovering the ways in which stress and negative emotions, such as anxiety, are related to politics. In my own research on cognitive and mental well-being, I find that a person’s general anxiety level is related to experiencing more anxiety over politics. 

The combination of high general anxiety and high political anxiety results in consuming a greater amount of threatening political information – essentially fueling the already existing anxiety fire. 

During the 2020 election, a study focusing on Mexican Americans in the El Paso area found that depression, anxiety and negative affect increased as Election Day got closer among people who did not support Donald Trump. With focus on elections, depression is also related to a decrease in voter turnout and an increase in support for election violence.

Why does mental health affect politics? Mental health and mental resources are not an unlimited resource. When you are stressed or experiencing negative emotions, this uses up some of the energy you may have otherwise had to engage with information, social settings, and tasks more carefully and meaningfully. In some of my own research, my collaborator and I test what happens when people are given interventions to decrease stress to free up some mental energy. 

In one recent study we find that giving people resources is related to more engagement with politics through volunteering behavior. In another recent study, we find that psychological intervention to minimize the cognitive consequences of stress is related to less consumption of misinformation and more fact-checking behavior. When people are given resources to minimize the impact of stress, they engage with politics more and in a smarter way.

But what does stress mean for big problems in politics, such as polarization? As the 2024 election approaches, stress and poor mental health could negatively impact politics through an increase in polarization, or the gap between Democrats and Republicans.

Between people, stress can make people aggressive, competitive, and inflexible, fueling polarization. For an individual, engagement with information is less critical when a person is stressed and they also rely more on automatic cues, or mental shortcuts, when participating in politics because their mental load is already overwhelmed.

One example of an automatic cue is relying on information such as a political party to make a judgment about a piece of information. A person’s political party can serve as a signal – if a Republican is evaluating something said by a Republican politician, they may be more likely to accept the information without much critical evaluation because it came from someone in their own political group. They also may be more likely to disregard something said by a Democratic politician because it came from someone who is not in their own political group. This happens on both sides of the political spectrum.

Mental shortcuts that rely on political group cues may make big political problems, such as polarization, even worse.

The divide between Democrats and Republicans is already quite large, resulting in political gridlock, election violence, perceptions of hostility in media, and even an increase in people who say that people in the other political party lack traits to be considered fully human. 

Reliance on group cues, especially since strong group ties can be created over such arbitrary information such as same-colored shirts, sets up an atmosphere to amplify polarization. If people are stressed and have fewer mental resources to critically engage with information or political context, they may rely on group cues even more, further solidifying the divide between Democrats and Republicans.

There are actions that may help reduce stress and, in turn, reduce some political problems. The American Psychological Association provides some stress reduction tips such as regular exercise, connecting more with friends and family, and meditation exercises. In my own research, I find that mindfulness exercises (a form of meditation) reduce misinformation consumption, a sign that mindfulness frees up some cognitive resources to make more meaningful decisions.

Melissa Baker is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso.