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Stressful politics: voters' cortisol responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Stanton, SJ; Labar, KS; Saini, EK; Kuhn, CM; Beehner, JC
Published in: Psychoneuroendocrinology
June 2010

Social subordination can be biologically stressful; when mammals lose dominance contests they have acute increases in the stress hormone cortisol. However, human studies of the effect of dominance contest outcomes on cortisol changes have had inconsistent results. Moreover, human studies have been limited to face-to-face competitions and have heretofore never examined cortisol responses to shifts in political dominance hierarchies. The present study investigated voters' cortisol responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election. 183 participants at two research sites (Michigan and North Carolina) provided saliva samples at several time points before and after the announcement of the winner on Election Night. Radioimmunoassay was used to measure levels of cortisol in the saliva samples. In North Carolina, John McCain voters (losers) had increases in post-outcome cortisol levels, whereas Barack Obama voters (winners) had stable post-outcome cortisol levels. The present research provides novel evidence that societal shifts in political dominance can impact biological stress responses in voters whose political party becomes socio-politically subordinate.

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Published In

Psychoneuroendocrinology

DOI

EISSN

1873-3360

Publication Date

June 2010

Volume

35

Issue

5

Start / End Page

768 / 774

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Social Dominance
  • Saliva
  • Psychiatry
  • Politics
  • North Carolina
  • Michigan
  • Male
  • Hydrocortisone
 

Citation

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Stanton, S. J., Labar, K. S., Saini, E. K., Kuhn, C. M., & Beehner, J. C. (2010). Stressful politics: voters' cortisol responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35(5), 768–774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.10.018
Stanton, Steven J., Kevin S. Labar, Ekjyot K. Saini, Cynthia M. Kuhn, and Jacinta C. Beehner. “Stressful politics: voters' cortisol responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election.Psychoneuroendocrinology 35, no. 5 (June 2010): 768–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.10.018.
Stanton SJ, Labar KS, Saini EK, Kuhn CM, Beehner JC. Stressful politics: voters' cortisol responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Jun;35(5):768–74.
Stanton, Steven J., et al. “Stressful politics: voters' cortisol responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election.Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 35, no. 5, June 2010, pp. 768–74. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.10.018.
Stanton SJ, Labar KS, Saini EK, Kuhn CM, Beehner JC. Stressful politics: voters' cortisol responses to the outcome of the 2008 United States Presidential election. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Jun;35(5):768–774.
Journal cover image

Published In

Psychoneuroendocrinology

DOI

EISSN

1873-3360

Publication Date

June 2010

Volume

35

Issue

5

Start / End Page

768 / 774

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Social Dominance
  • Saliva
  • Psychiatry
  • Politics
  • North Carolina
  • Michigan
  • Male
  • Hydrocortisone