Gerber et al., 2017: Representing voting as an identity had no effect on the 2015 primary election voter turnout
Reference:
Gerber, A., Hoffman, M., Morgan, J., & Raymond, C. (2017). One in a Million: Field Experiments on Perceived Closeness of the Election and Voter Turnout (No. w23071). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Download PDFSummary:
A diverse sample of eligible voters completed a 10-item survey up to 4 days before 2015 general elections in three states with a gubernatorial election (Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi) and a large city with a contested mayoral election (Houston, TX). Referring to voting in survey items using nouns—as an opportunity to become “a voter”—rather than as verbs—as a task to be completed, “to vote”—had no effect on voter turnout, including in various subsamples of participants.
Psychological Process:
What Desired Meaning is At Stake?
What is the Person Trying to Understand?
Selves (My Own and Others')Psychological Question Addressed
Who could I become?Psychological Process 2:
Psychological Process 3:
Heading
Who could I become?Social Area:
Civic behavior
Intervention Technique:
Prompting with leading questions