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ITHACA, N.Y. - We ve all seen them: political ads on television that promise doom gloom if Candidate X is elected, and how all your problems will be solved if you choose Candidate Y. And Candidate Y, of course, approves this message.
Beyond attempting to move a large swath of the population to vote one way or another, the seemingly constant bombardment of negativity in the name of our democratic process is anxiety-inducing, researchers have found. Many of my friends and family members wind up quite stressed out, for lack of a better word, during each election season, said Jeff Niederdeppe, professor in the Department of Communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and I ve seen this pattern repeat itself across the last several election cycles.
April 12, 2021
We’ve all seen them: political ads on television that promise doom gloom if Candidate X is elected, and how all your problems will be solved if you choose Candidate Y. And Candidate Y, of course, approves this message.
Beyond attempting to move a large swath of the population to vote one way or another, the seemingly constant bombardment of negativity in the name of our democratic process is anxiety-inducing, researchers have found.
“Many of my friends and family members wind up quite stressed out, for lack of a better word, during each election season,” said Jeff Niederdeppe, professor in the Department of Communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, “and I’ve seen this pattern repeat itself across the last several election cycles.”