Lonely Hearts, Empty Booths? The Relationship between Loneliness, Reported Voting Behavior and Voting as Civic Duty

Objective: The study investigates the relationship between perceived loneliness and the individuals' attitude whether voting is a civic duty. With that, it is the first study to shed light on the mechanism linking perceived loneliness to voting behavior. Methods: Two independent, cross-sectional, and representative datasets from Germany (n = 1641) and the Netherlands (n = 1431) are analyzed. Results: The regression results and effect decomposition techniques show that loneliness is associated with reduced intention to vote as well as a lower sense of duty to vote. The effect of loneliness on v... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Langenkamp, Alexander
Dokumenttyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Verlag/Hrsg.: GBR
Schlagwörter: Politikwissenschaft / Psychologie / Political science / Psychology / Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften (ALLBUS/GGSS) 2018 / Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) / politische Willensbildung / politische Soziologie / politische Kultur / Sozialpsychologie / Political Process / Elections / Political Sociology / Political Culture / Social Psychology / Einsamkeit / Wahlverhalten / Bürger / Pflicht / Bundesrepublik Deutschland / Niederlande / Regressionsanalyse / solitude / voting behavior / citizen / obligation / Federal Republic of Germany / Netherlands / regression analysis / 10500
Sprache: unknown
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27204737
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/77872

Objective: The study investigates the relationship between perceived loneliness and the individuals' attitude whether voting is a civic duty. With that, it is the first study to shed light on the mechanism linking perceived loneliness to voting behavior. Methods: Two independent, cross-sectional, and representative datasets from Germany (n = 1641) and the Netherlands (n = 1431) are analyzed. Results: The regression results and effect decomposition techniques show that loneliness is associated with reduced intention to vote as well as a lower sense of duty to vote. The effect of loneliness on voting behavior is partially mediated through a reduced sense of duty. Conclusion: Loneliness is associated with political disengagement. The study provides empirical evidence that the relationship between loneliness and turnout is partially mediated through sense of duty. This showcases that lonely individuals tend to feel detached from society and are less likely to feel obligated to participate in the electoral process.