The emotional underpinning of partisanship and vote choice

In this paper we examine the impact of emotions on vote choice and the role of partisanship. According to our model, emotional responses toward political parties are key determinants of partisanship, which in turn is the primary determinant of vote choice. We employ a novel series of items to measure partisanship in terms of two components: partisan self-identity (party identification) and attitudes toward individual parties (party evaluations). Survey data were collected from a sample of students (n=171) in Italy, which is a typical example of a multi-party parliamentary system. Emotional responses toward each of the five major parties were structured along three dimensions: enthusiasm, anxiety and aversion. Analyses using structural equation modeling indicate that enthusiasm and aversion had distinct effects on both components of partisanship, whereas anxiety had no impact. Both partisanship components in turn influenced vote choice and completely mediated the effects of emotion. These findings suggest that partisanship is best conceptualized in terms of two components (self-identity and attitudes), which both play a pivotal role in linking positively and negatively valenced emotions to vote choice.