Woe to the losers
Partisans on the wrong side of Tuesday’s election might find themselves booking a quick vacation or desperately seeking a new show to binge-watch. Anything to ease the misery of losing. Because while a post-election letdown should be anticipated, especially for the losers, the depth of that sadness, as outlined in new research, often comes as a surprise. That depth is documented in a study co-authored by Associate Professor Todd Rogers of the Harvard Kennedy School. His report finds that winning elections only slightly improves the happiness of those affiliated with the winning political party, while those on the losing side experience dramatic levels of sadness for as long as a week. “People’s social, physical, economic, and mental lives are shaped by their partisan identities — and these social identities are widely and deeply held. The current research vividly shows that these identities also have important consequences to people’s hedonic lives,” the authors conclude....