We compare two alternative measures for assessing people’s emotional reactions to political stimuli: the traditional self-report measure and facial expression analysis. We recruited participants to take part in a study examining reactions to a set of negative political commercials aired during the 2018 elections. We compare people’s self-reporting of their emotional reactions to negative political advertisements with their expressed emotion, according to the facial expression analysis. We find the discriminant validity of the facial expression analysis is higher than the self-report measure. Second, the self-report and facial expression measures of emotion have little convergent validity: we fail to find a consistent and strong positive correlation between the self-report and facial software measures of the same emotion and the same political advertisement. Third, the facial software measure has better predictive validity than the self-report measure, generating better predictions for the three dependent variables examined: changes in political interest, changes in people’s confidence in elected officials, and people’s assessment of the tone of the senate campaign.
AbelsonRobert P.KinderDonald R.PetersMark D.FiskeSusan T.1982. “Affective and Semantic Components in Political Person Perception.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology42 (4): 619–30.
2.
AhnSun Joo-GraceBailensonJeremyFoxJesseJabonMaria E.2009. “Using Automated Facial Expression Analysis for Emotion and Behavior Prediction.” In The Routledge Handbook of Emotions and Mass Media, edited by DovelingKatrinvon ScheveChristianKonjinElly A., 349–69. New York: Routledge.
3.
AnsolabehereStephenIyengarShanto. 1995. Going Negative: How Attack Advertisements Shrink & Polarize the Electorate. New York: Free Press.
4.
BarrettLisa Feldman. 1997. “The Relationships among Momentary Emotion Experiences, Personality Descriptions, and Retrospective Ratings of Emotion.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin23 (10): 1100–10.
5.
BernsteinJonathan. 2018. “Civility Is Important in a Democracy. So Is Dissent.” Bloomberg, 26June. http://www.bloomberg.com.
6.
BraderTed. 2005. “Striking a Responsive Chord: How Political Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by Appealing to Emotions.” American Journal of Political Science49 (2): 388–405.
7.
BraderTedValentinoNicholas A.SuhayElizabeth. 2008. “What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat.” American Journal of Political Science52 (4): 959–78.
8.
CampbellDonald T.FiskeDonald W.1959. “Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix.” Psychological Bulletin56 (2): 81–105.
9.
CivettiniAndrewRedlawskDavid P.2005. “A Feeling Person’s Game: Affect and Voter Information Processing and Learning in a Campaign.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, August, 2005.
10.
CohnJeffrey F.EkmanPaul. 2005. “Measuring Facial Action.” In The New Handbook of Methods in Nonverbal Behavior Research, edited by HarriganJinniRosenthalRobertSchererKlaus, 9–64. New York: Oxford University Press.
11.
CookTimothy E.GronkePaul. 2001. “The Dimensions of Institutional Trust: How Distinct Is Public Confidence in the Media.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 19–21.
12.
CraigScotty D.D’MelloSidneyWitherspoonAmyGraesserArt. 2008. “Emote Aloud During Learning with AutoTutor: Applying the Facial Action Coding System to Cognitive–Affective States during Learning.” Cognition & Emotion22 (5): 777–88.
DaignaultPénélopeSorokaStuartGiassonThierry. 2013. “The Perception of Political Advertising during an Election Campaign: A Measure of Cognitive and Emotional Effects.” Canadian Journal of Communication38 (2): 167–86.
15.
EkmanPaulFriesenWallace V.HagerJoseph C.2002. FACS Investigator’s Guide. Salt Lake City: A Human Face.
16.
EkmanPaulRosenbergErika L.1997. What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
17.
EllsworthPhoebe C.SmithCraig A.1988. “From Appraisal to Emotion: Differences among Unpleasant Feelings.” Motivation and Emotion12 (3): 271–302.
18.
FazioRussell H.OlsonMichael A.2003. “Implicit Measures in Social Cognition Research: Their Meaning and Use.” Annual Review of Psychology54 (1): 297–327.
19.
FridkinKimGershonSarahCoureyJillianLaPlantKristina. 2019. “Gender Differences in Emotional Reactions to the First 2016 Presidential Debate.” Political Behavior. Published electronically May 23. doi:10.1007/s11109-019-09546-9.
20.
FridkinKimKenneyPatrick. 2019. Taking Aim at Attack Advertising: Understanding the Impact of Negative Campaigning in U.S. Senate Races. New York: Oxford University Press.
21.
GarverMichael S.MentzerJohn T.1999. “Logistics Research Methods: Employing Structural Equation Modeling to Test for Construct Validity.” Journal of Business Logistics20 (1): 33–57.
GervaisBryan T.2019. “Rousing the Partisan Combatant: Elite Incivility, Anger, and Antideliberative Attitudes.” Political Psychology40 (3): 637–55.
24.
GreenwaldAnthony G.BanajiMahzarin R.1995. “Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Stereotypes.” Psychological Review102 (1): 4–27.
25.
GrunauRuth V. E.CraigKenneth D.1987. “Pain Expression in Neonates: Facial Action and Cry.” Pain28 (3): 395–410.
26.
HairJoe F.RingleChristian M.SarstedtMarko. 2011. “PLS-SEM: Indeed a Silver Bullet.” Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice19 (2): 139–52.
27.
HasellArielWeeksBrian E.2016. “Partisan Provocation: The Role of Partisan News Use and Emotional Responses in Political Information Sharing in Social Media.” Human Communication Research42 (4): 641–61.
28.
HofmannWilhelmGawronskiBertramGschwendnerTobiasLeHuySchmittManfred. 2005. “A Meta-Analysis on the Correlation between the Implicit Association Test and Explicit Self-Report Measures.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin31 (10): 1369–85.
29.
HuddyLeonieFeldmanStanleyTaberCharlesLahavGallya. 2005. “Threat, Anxiety, and Support of Antiterrorism Policies.” American Journal of Political Science49 (3): 593–608.
30.
KenskiKateCoeKevinRainsStephen A.2017. “Perceptions of Uncivil Discourse Online: An Examination of Types and Predictors.” Communication Research. Published electronically April 3. doi:10.1177/0093650217699933.
31.
LauRichard R.RovnerIvy Brown. 2009. “Negative Campaigning.” Annual Review of Political Science12:285–306.
32.
LernerJennifer S.KeltnerDacher. 2000. “Beyond Valence: Toward a Model of Emotion-Specific Influences on Judgement and Choice.” Cognition & Emotion14 (4): 473–93.
MarcusGeorge E.2000. “Emotions in Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science3 (1): 221–50.
35.
MarcusGeorge E.MacKuenMichael. 1993. “Anxiety, Enthusiasm, and the Vote: The Emotional Underpinnings of Learning and Involvement during Presidential Campaigns.” American Political Science Review87 (3): 672–85.
36.
MarcusGeorge E.NeumanW. RussellMacKuenMichael. 2000. Affective Intelligence and Political Judgment. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
37.
MarcusGeorge E.SullivanJohn L.Theiss-MorseElizabethStevensDaniel. 2005. “The Emotional Foundation of Political Cognition: The Impact of Extrinsic Anxiety on the Formation of Political Tolerance Judgments.” Political Psychology26 (6): 949–63.
38.
McDuffDaniel. 2017. “New Methods for Measuring Advertising Efficacy.” In Digital Advertising: Theory and Research, edited by RogersShellyThorsonEsther, 327–42. New York: Routledge.
39.
McDuffDanielEl KalioubyRanaKodraEvanPicardRosalind. 2013. “Measuring Voter’s Candidate Preference Based on Affective Responses to Election Debates.” Paper presented at the 2013 Humaine Association Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, Geneva, Switzerland, September 2-5. IEEE.
40.
MutzDiana C.2007. “Political Psychology and Choice.” In The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior, edited by DaltonRussell J.KlingemanHans-Dieter, 80–99. New York: Oxford University Press.
41.
NabiRobin L.2003. “Exploring the Framing Effects of Emotion: Do Discrete Emotions Differentially Influence Information Accessibility, Information Seeking, and Policy Preference?” Communication Research30 (2): 224–47.
42.
PaulhusDelroy L.JohnOliver P.1998. “Egoistic and Moralistic Biases in Self-Perception: The Interplay of Self-Deceptive Styles with Basic Traits and Motives.” Journal of Personality66 (6): 1025–60.
43.
PérezEfrén O.2010. “Explicit Evidence on the Import of Implicit Attitudes: The IAT and Immigration Policy Judgments.” Political Behavior32 (4): 517–45.
44.
RosemanIra J.1996. “Appraisal Determinants of Emotions: Constructing a More Accurate and Comprehensive Theory.” Cognition & Emotion10 (3): 241–78.
45.
RyanTimothy J.2012. “What Makes Us Click? Demonstrating Incentives for Angry Discourse with Digital-Age Field Experiments.” The Journal of Politics74 (4): 1138–52.
46.
SmithCraig A.EllsworthPhoebe C.1985. “Patterns of Cognitive Appraisal in Emotion.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology48 (4): 813–38.
47.
SorokaStuartFournierPatrickNirLilachHibbingJohn. 2019. “Psychophysiology in the Study of Political Communication: An Expository Study of Individual-Level Variation in Negativity Biases.” Political Communication36:288–302.
48.
StrykerRobinConwayBethany AnneDanielsonTaylor J.2016. “What Is Political Incivility?”Communication Monographs83 (40): 535–56.
49.
TiedensLarissa Z.LintonSusan. 2001. “Judgment under Emotional Certainty and Uncertainty: The Effects of Specific Emotions on Information Processing.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology81 (6): 973–88.
50.
ValentinoNicholas A.BraderTedGroenendykEric W.GregorowiczKryshaHutchingsVincent L.2011. “Election Night’s Alright for Fighting: The Role of Emotions in Political Participation.” The Journal of Politics73 (1): 156–70.
51.
ValentinoNicholas A.HutchingsVincent L.BanksAntoine J.DavisAnne K.2008. “Is a Worried Citizen a Good Citizen? Emotions, Political Information Seeking, and Learning via the Internet.” Political Psychology29 (2): 247–73.
52.
ValentinoNicholas A.HutchingsVincent L.PhilpotTasha S.WhiteIsmail K.2006. “Racial Cues in Campaign News: The Effects of Candidate Issue Distance on Emotional Responses, Political Attentiveness, and Vote Choice.” In Feeling Politics: Emotion in Political Information Processing, edited by RedlawskDavid, 165–68. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
WearyGiffordJacobsonJill A.1997. “Causal Uncertainty Beliefs and Diagnostic Information Seeking.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology73 (4): 839–48.
55.
WeberChristopher. 2013. “Emotions, Campaigns, and Political Participation.” Political Research Quarterly66 (2): 414–28.
56.
WinkielmanPiotrBerridgeKent C.2004. “Unconscious Emotion.” Current Directions in Psychological Science13 (3): 120–13.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
