TY - JOUR
T1 - Rejected by the Nation
T2 - The Electoral Defeat of Candidates Included in the Self Is Experienced as Personal Rejection
AU - Young, Steven G.
AU - Bernstein, Michael J.
AU - Claypool, Heather M.
PY - 2009/12
Y1 - 2009/12
N2 - The current research was designed to examine how the outcome of the 2008 United States presidential election would affect participants' feelings of being rejected. Specifically, we set out to test whether participants who favored the losing candidate would feel as if they had been personally rejected. Additionally, we were interested in whether these feelings of rejection would be predicted by the extent to which participants included the major party candidates in their own self-representation, as measured with the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale. We find that conservative participants who included John McCain in the self reported feeling less satisfaction of their basic needs (a composite of belonging, self-esteem, belief in a meaningful existence, and sense of control), compared with conservative participants low in McCain IOS, and these effects are independent of mood. Applied and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
AB - The current research was designed to examine how the outcome of the 2008 United States presidential election would affect participants' feelings of being rejected. Specifically, we set out to test whether participants who favored the losing candidate would feel as if they had been personally rejected. Additionally, we were interested in whether these feelings of rejection would be predicted by the extent to which participants included the major party candidates in their own self-representation, as measured with the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale. We find that conservative participants who included John McCain in the self reported feeling less satisfaction of their basic needs (a composite of belonging, self-esteem, belief in a meaningful existence, and sense of control), compared with conservative participants low in McCain IOS, and these effects are independent of mood. Applied and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1530-2415.2009.01191.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1530-2415.2009.01191.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77950762328
SN - 1529-7489
VL - 9
SP - 315
EP - 326
JO - Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
JF - Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
IS - 1
ER -