Europeans and Americans are anxious about the number of refugees entering their country; angry about unresponsive political elites; or sad how immigrants are treated. To answer the question whether these emotions influence citizens’ political attitudes, the state-of-the-art relies primarily upon self-reported emotions. Yet, when asked to self-report emotions, people are likely to mix their initial emotion with their cognitive evaluation which leads to an invalid measure of the emotion. In this Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Global Fellowshiop, called HotPolitics, I employ a ground-breaking methodological design by not relying upon self-reported emotions but measuring emotions via the actual physiological responses that citizens experience. Physiological responses are automatic, directed by the autonomous nervous system, when the brain experiences emotion. So, by building upon research in psychology, political science and communication science, I move beyond self-reported measures of emotions and theorize and assess whether emotions – measured using physiological responses – influence citizens’ political attitudes. To answer this question, this project consists of two research objectives: Which citizens experience which physiological responses to political messages (Objective 1)? And do physiological responses to politics influence political attitudes (Objective 2)? These objectives are test using a set of studies that are conducted at Temple University in the United States (outgoing phase) and the University of Amsterdam (incoming phase). This project aims to inform politicians, journalists and citizens. In the contemporary society, many observers claim that emotions play a central role in modern politics but their knowledge how emotions influence politics is limited. HotPolitics will answer this question and I will communicate my findings so that people will learn more about this important issue.
