Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Paper Series,
Uppsala University, Department of Economics
No 2009:12: Correcting Mistakes: Cognitive Dissonance and Political Attitudes in Sweden and the United States.
Mikael Elinder ()
Additional contact information
Mikael Elinder: Department of Economics, Postal: Department of Economics, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Abstract: Cognitive dissonance theory predicts that the act of voting makes people more positive toward the party or candidate they have voted for. Following Mullainathan and Washington (2009), I test this prediction by using exogenous variation in turnout provided by the voting age restriction. I improve on previous studies by investigating political attitudes, measured just before elections, when they are highly predictive of voting. In contrast to earlier studies I find no effect of voting on political attitudes. This result holds for a variety of political attitudes and for both Sweden and the United States.
Keywords: Cognitive dissonance; Voting; Elections; Political Attitudes
25 pages, July 1, 2009
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