The intensity of politically induced anger and disgust may be what spurs people to protestIan Francis/Alamy
If the emotional rollercoaster of global politics feels overwhelming, the findings of a new study might help to explain why. Emotions evoked by political issues seem to be felt differently in the body than when the same emotions are experienced in everyday life. Understanding how and why this happens may offer clues to how we can stay calm while remaining informed and engaged citizens.
“Feeling more is probably a good thing for democracy,” says Manos Tsakiris at Royal Holloway, University of London. “Feeling better is about first figuring out what you feel, and then the challenge is learning how to respond rather than react.”
Tsakiris and his colleagues asked nearly 1000 people to mark on a body-outline diagram where, and how intensely, they felt emotions including anger, disgust and hope. Then, they were asked to do the same, but while reading words associated with emotionally laden political issues, such as terrorism and crime.
Their responses were used to create a digital heat map, which covered where in the body each emotion was felt, how intensely, and whether the sensation was linked to feeling spurred into action or demotivated and detached.
