Emotional Vote: An Experiment during the July 23, 2023 election in Spain

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54790/rccs.81

Keywords:

emotional vote, elicited vote, neuroscience, emotional reactions, demographic projections, facial expression analysis

Abstract

New technologies and neuroscience may help complement the traditional poll-based vote projections. As such, the analysis of facial expressions help study the emotional reactions that the images of logos or candidates’ faces provoke on the voters. This research note presents the experiment that was carried out prior to the 2023 Spanish general elections using this type of technique, defining, and quantifying the emotional vote. The main methodological conclusion is that experimentally the analysis of voting intention based on traditional surveys can be complemented with the emotional reactions shown by the respondents. This emotional vote could shed new light to understand the electoral behavior of voters.

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Author Biographies

Francisco Javier Otamendi, Rey Juan Carlos University

Full Professor at URJC’s Department of Applied Economics and director of the BNE (Behavioural Neuroeconomics) research and teaching innovation group viaSIM (Simulated Reality). He is an expert in modelling, simulation and quantitative analysis.

Lucía M. Guerras, Rey Juan Carlos University

PhD student at URJC. She holds a Master’s Degree in Development of Neurocognitive Techniques in Business Organisations: Neuromanagement from URJC.

Eva Borrega-Alonso, Rey Juan Carlos University

PhD student at URJC. She holds a Master's Degree in Development of Neurocognitive Techniques in Business Organisations: Neuromanagement from URJC.

Jesús Messía, Rey Juan Carlos University

Associate Professor in URJC’s Department of Private Law, specialist in civil law. He holds a PhD in Law from Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Félix Fernando Muñoz, Autonomous University of Madrid

Associate Professor in the Department of Economic Analysis: Economic Theory and Economic History at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He specialises in economic theory and evolutionary economics.

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Published

2024-07-03

How to Cite

Otamendi, F. J., Guerras, L. M., Borrega-Alonso, E., Messía de la Cerda, J. A., & Muñoz, F. F. (2024). Emotional Vote: An Experiment during the July 23, 2023 election in Spain. CENTRA Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 125–140. https://doi.org/10.54790/rccs.81