Election and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

Dongyoung Kim, Young-Il Kim and Haedong Rho

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper uses daily Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to estimate the causal effect of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a highly competitive race whose outcome resolved lingering uncertainty on election day, on mental-health and life-satisfaction outcomes through a regression discontinuity design. Following the resolution of electoral uncertainty on election day, we find a sharp and persistent post-election decline in subjective well-being, concentrated among female, non-White, urban, and more-educated respondents. These findings reveal an expected-outcome shock, showing that political polarization itself, not electoral surprise, can act as a chronic psychological stressor.

Keywords: Election; Subjective Well-Being; Mental Health; Life Satisfaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H00 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10-29
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap and nep-pol
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